These birds were photographed in late July 2003 at the same Texas
site as all the other egret photos:
A) July 17: This juvenile bird looked noticably chunkier and slightly
larger than nearby Snowies; note the long-looking, very thick
legs, and dull greenish-yellow slippers. When foraging it looked
like a L.B. Heron, with no foot-shuffling (all the Snowies in
the same pond were shuffling - including other juveniles):
Here is a nearby adult Snowy Egret (right) at the same distance/magnification/crop,
for comparison:
B) July 20 in exactly the same spot. At first I thought it was
the same bird as above (I repeatedely saw yellowish slippers with
black fore-tarsi, but was unable to get a photo because it remained
in the water the whole time) - but the hints of ginger in the
plumage and the slightly different bill/face shape/pattern reveal
it is a different individual. Its feeding method was exactly like
nearby L.B. Herons, with no foot-shuffling:
I looked very carefully at the wing tips, and there was no sign
of any slaty tipping, even when the wings were opened:
Below is a juvenile L. H. Heron in the same pond; when the above
bird's foot appeared like this while moving, the black upper tarsi
and clean-cut dull greenish-yellow slipper was obvious:
