Roger was good enough to send more pics, A-E below, D-E being
later birds. I’d put aside for present purposes the possibility
of a Cattle Egret (small, body about magpie size, different head-bill,
very compact etc.) The problem here is to distinguish the Intermediate
from the Great, especially non-breeding and young birds. Both have
blackish (at distance can be ‘black) legs. The usual differentiator
is a stocky versus lanky bird, former having a thick neck where it meets the
shoulders, like the difference between a League player and an Aus Rules
footballer.
Below pics show the problem with non-breeding/young birds, the extent
of ‘gape’ being not all that much use in some situations. My
conclusions: A-C are Int Egrets, D-E (Roger’s later birds) are
Greats. The similarity between D-E and A exemplifying the problem. The
roundish crown of the Int is some help. With a photo it may be necessary
to fall back on relative length of neck, as Marnix correctly points out.
Feel free to disagree if you wish.
From: roger curnow
[
Sent: Saturday, 17 May 2008 5:49 PM
To: Geoffrey Dabb
Subject: egret
Hope this isn't too much trouble.
Attached are five head shots. two from 16th April, one
from 26th April and two from today (probably the same bird, but different ends
of the pond.).
Several people had told me they had seen an Intermediate
Egret and I couldn't find it
so I decided to query, thinking it was a Cattle Egret: especially the 16th
April one.
