An adult, non-breeding plumage Cattle Egret was at the rear of Schoolhouse Pond today during my lunchtime walk.  It was perched near the rear of the pond, to one side of the observation platform with a Great Blue Heron and some Canada Geese.  At one point the bird flushed and flew around the pond a time or two before settling back down in the same general area.  This is the fourth or fifth time I've seen a Cattle Egret at the pond; they seem to show up every two or three years, at least based on what I've seen.  This is probably the same bird seen earlier in the week by Jeff Shenot.  Also present was one male Wood Duck, 2 Shovelers, 18 Mallards, 40 or so Canada Geese, 1 Mute Swan, and 1 Pied-billed Grebe.  Songbirds included White-throated Sparrows, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Cardinals.  The wind was blowing very hard, probably keeping small birds out of sight.

Unfortunately, there have been no large Laughing Gull flocks at the pond so far this fall.  Last year at this time I had already had groups of 1,200+ Laughing Gulls on the pond on multiple days.  This year, there havebeen mostly just flyover gulls.  When the gulls do land on the pond, it is in much smaller groups that don't seem to hang around.  Hopefully that will change in coming weeks as typically Laughing Gull numbers are greatest at the pond in November.  Today there were 113 Laughing Gulls, 2 Ring-billed Gulls, and 1 Herring Gull (all flyovers).  

Fred Shaffer

Crofton, Anne Arundel