Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) and Wood Stork (Mycteria americana)

Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, Stafford County, Kansas

June 22, 2003

Below are a few photos I took with a Nikon CoolPix 4500 digital camera mounted on a Kowa TSN-824 (82mm) spotting scope with a 20-60x zoom eyepiece. Conditions for photography were poor, with strong winds, swirling dust, temperatures in excess of 90°F, and fading evening light, but I managed to get identifiable images of both birds.

Reddish Egret

Pending acceptance by the Kansas Bird Records Committee, this is only the second state record for this species and the first supported by physical evidence. Gregg Friesen, Pete Janzen, and others first spotted it north of the east–west road at the Big Salt Marsh on June 21, 2003 (see Gregg’s account here). To date, all photos of the bird have been taken in approximately that same location, at a distance of 200 yards or more (see Ed McCullough’s digiscoped images and video clip here). I took all of my shots at a total original magnification of approximately 160x (4x optical zoom, 40x telescope).

Image #1: Note the pale reddish head, neck, and breast; pale grayish wings and back washed with a reddish tint; relatively uniform bill color (no dark tip; lower mandible with pale base, much more visible in image #2); and gray legs, seemingly with paler tibiae and darker tarsi (above and below the “knees,” respectively). The feather coloration is consistent with (or intermediate between) that of a juvenile and a second-year bird. For the bird to be a juvenile, it would have had to hatch extremely early this spring and already be wandering extensively without its parents; this, together with the pale gray tibiae, relatively rich head and neck color, and especially the pale base of the lower mandible, make me believe it is a second-year bird, perhaps retaining some remnants of juvenal plumage.

Image #2: Size comparison with Redheads – Also note the wind-blown scapulars exposing pale feather bases; pale gray tibiae; grayish bill with pale base of lower mandible; and hint of reddish in wings, belly, and vent. Click on the image to see a larger version, almost original size (approximately 160x excluding monitor magnification).

Image #3: Size comparison with Black-necked Stilt and Redheads.

Image #4: Running erratically through water, typical of its foraging style.

Image #5: Size comparison with Mallard.

Wood Stork

This constitutes only the eighth recorded occurrence of this species in Kansas. Discovered by USFWS personnel on June 18, 2003, it was reported to the KSBIRD-L listserv on June 20 by Quivira refuge manager Dave Hilley (see his note here). My photos are at relatively close range with an original magnification of 80x (4x optical zoom, 20x telescope), but in very dim light, necessitating shutter speeds from 1/60 to 1/30 second or longer at ISO 400 with up to –1.0 EV exposure compensation.

Image #1: Judging from the feathered neck and dark bill (especially at the base), this is a second-year bird. It foraged continually by standing or walking very slowly through the shallow water with its bill open and partly submerged, apparently feeling for invertebrates.

Image #2: Another shot of the stork foraging.

Image #3: With a crayfish.

Image #4: Profile shot – Note feathered neck and dark base of bill.

Copyright © 2003 David Seibel – posted June 25, 2003