Great egret in Montour County, August 2018 (photo by Lauri Shaffer)
Great egrets (Ardea alba) are southern and coastal birds with only a few breeding sites north of Mason-Dixon. However, those few sites don’t account for the high number of egrets we see outside their breeding range in August.
As it turns out, great egrets disperse widely after they’re done breeding. Many move north before flying south for the winter.
Lauri Shaffer posted these photos on Facebook with the comment: “Love August when the Great Egrets finally make it north to Montour County!” (Pennsylvania)
I wish great egrets would stop in Pittsburgh.
photos by Lauri Shaffer at birdingpictures.com
There has been one hanging around Canonsburg lake throughout the summer, with as many as 6 others joining it last weekend. Pictures are posted on the Canonsburg Lake Eagles facebook group.
Thanks for the update, Jim O. I need to make a trip out there!
Great Egret is not alone in showing this pattern. Bald Eagles breeding in the most southeasterly states like Florida start breeding as early as the beginning of January, with adults and juveniles dispersing northward toward New England and eastern Canada as early as late March. From Rehoboth Beach, DE, in late July, my wife and I saw an adult flying north just offshore, probably a northbound migrant.
My daughter just saw an egret in the lake on Waterdam Rd. (not far from Canonsburg Lake).
I’ve seen hundreds of them on the Mohawk River just north of Albany, NY, this year, and they’re still here. Hardly any last year.
I think I saw 4 great egrets at Graham Park in Cranberry Twp. this morning. The were in the top of the trees along the creek sunning themselves.
Todd, great egrets are rare in southwestern PA but great blue herons are back for the summer. They nest colonially in trees. Perhaps you for a heron rookery.