Bird of the Day: Great Egret in the Mini-Wilderness on Campus

What a delightful day on campus. The cooler days seem to have brought out multitudes of birds in the "mini-wilderness" where I work. A short walk at lunch and another in the late afternoon resulted in the sighting of at least a dozen species, including a few I haven't seen in some time on campus. Look for them in future posts. Today's picture is the occasional visitor to the pond in the mini-wilderness, a Great Egret (Ardea alba). It is always wary of me, even though I am a good 50 or 75 yards away when I walk by, but today it was feeling secure up in the high tree. The Great Egret is similar to the Snowy Egret (Egretta thula), but is distinguished by the yellow bill and fully black legs (the Snowy has yellow feet).