A Visitor to the Pond
It's a Great Egret! Not something you'd expect to find in Vermont. I guess it was passing through in migration, and decided it liked the look of our little pond -- it stayed for a few days! I saw it catching fish yesterday evening, before it took off and flew around the pond, directly over my head, and off into the distance. Great egrets, by the way, are HUGE, about three feet tall... that's smaller than a Great Blue Heron, but bright white, which makes it a really impressive bird. Here's a closer picture (it's a little pixelated because I had to resort to my camera's digital zoom):
Also yesterday evening, I saw a Phoebe out happily catching flies near the bonfire pit at the End of the World. It was doing the awesome Phoebe tail bob and everything. It didn't seem too concerned with my presence. I didn't have my camera with me, though, so unfortunately, no pictures.
