Reddish Egret Foraging Behavior

Reddish Egret Foraging at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve Huntington Beach, CA

Reddish Egret is a bird species I enjoy seeing when I visit family in Orange County, California. I saw my very first one in March of 2011. I've been fortunate enough to see them at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve each time I've visited the area since. My recent visit over Thanksgiving weekend allowed me to see multiple Reddish Egrets. Not one of them seemed to have an "off" button. Each appeared to be in some sort of hyper drive as they ran through the shallow water, spun themselves around erratically, flashed their wings, and snatched up tiny fish.

I decided to capture their behavior on video this time. While they are fine birds to observe in a photo, the photo just doesn't do justice to their foraging behavior. The video below is just under two minutes long and captures their typical hunting behaviors including one I hadn't noticed before. The bird paused to study one area of the water and then used its foot beneath the water to rustle up some fish that may have been hiding or somewhat obscured from its sight. Be sure to change the settings to High Definition if your video player doesn't default to HD.

If all the fish are as small as the one caught below it makes sense that these egrets appear to be in a feeding frenzy nearly every time I've observed them. That is more like an appetizer, not even a snack.

Reddish Egret Foraging at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve Huntington Beach, CA

Reddish Egrets are considered wading birds and are about about 30 inches long with a wing span of about 4 feet. They typically forage in shallow salt water and nest and roost with a variety of other wading birds. They breed along the coasts of Mexico and the southern coast line of the US, from Texas over to Florida. There is a white morph of the Reddish Egret, but they are not very common and are typically seen along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. From what I understand, the ones along the Pacific coast are all dark morphs, such as the one I've shared in this post.

Birding California's Orange County: Our Senses Are Blessings

My wife and I drove from Utah down to Orange County, California at the end of September to help some of her siblings care for her aging parents. One parent is giving in to the effects of terminal cancer and the other is being slowly pulled away from all she knows by the relentless grip of Alzheimer's Disease. We spent about four full days sorting through items that had been accumulated and stored over many years in an effort to return a garage to normal use. We were very aware that her parents' time on this earth was growing short so we were creating memories of family helping family.

I often make time to do some birding when I travel and I did so on this trip, but I had some poignant moments during this trip as I sat and visited with my wife's parents and realized how incapacitated they had become. They were so different from the people I met nearly 29 years before when I married their daughter. I imagined myself in their situation and realized what a blessing it is to have health that allows me to move about at will and keenly functioning senses that allow me to hear, see, touch, smell, taste, and feel deeply the beauties (people and nature) of this life. I counted them blessings each morning when I awoke to be with family and to hear the varied songs of the local Northern Mockingbird, the calls of Black Phoebes and Allen's Hummingbirds, and the busy chattering of the small, nomadic flock of Bushtits that passed through the backyard on a daily basis. I more fully appreciated the raptors and other birds perched on poles along the roads as I made my way to the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve near Bolsa Chica State Beach, one of my traditional birding spots when I am near Orange County. And, I ended up adding a new birding location during this visit, Huntington Central Park in Huntington Beach. 

I enjoyed capturing the images below. I hope you enjoy the diversity and beauty of these birds as well.

Female (yellow iris) Bushtit in Cypress, CA

Female (yellow iris) Bushtit in Cypress, CA

Female (yellow iris) Bushtit in Cypress, CA

Male (dark iris) Bushtit in Cypress, CA

Northern Mockingbird in Cypress, CA

Black-bellied Plover at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, CA

Forster's Tern at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, CA

Hunting Great Blue Heron at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, CA

Least Sandpiper at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, CA

Long-billed Curlew at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, CA

Foraging Long-billed Curlew at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, CA

Long-billed Curlew with Crab at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, CA

Marbled Godwit at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, CA

Hunting Reddish Egret at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, CA

Hunting Reddish Egret at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, CA

Hunting Reddish Egret at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, CA

Hunting Reddish Egret at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, CA

Hunting Reddish Egret at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, CA

Hunting Reddish Egret at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, CA

Savannah Sparrow at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, CA
I believe this is a Beldings variety, resident in southern California saltmarshes

Semipalmated Plover (showing its semipalmated/partially webbed toes) at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve
Orange County, CA

Willet at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, CA

Red-tailed Hawk at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County, CA

Adult Cooper's Hawk in Cypress, CA

Adult Cooper's Hawk in Cypress, CA

Juvenile Cooper's Hawk at Huntington Central Park in Huntington Beach, CA

Juvenile Cooper's Hawk at Huntington Central Park in Huntington Beach, CA

Juvenile Cooper's Hawk in Huntington Central Park Huntington Beach, CA

Hutton's Vireo in Huntington Central Park Huntington Beach, CA

Pin-tailed Whydah (in the wild) in Huntington Central Park Huntington Beach, CA