Cattle Egret in January????

[Don Baxter]

I was returning from birding Cherry Beach, waiting for a streetcar at the corner of King and Cherry when I spotted a pure white bird flying directly sourth.  I followed it through the binoculars for a good ten seconds, - broad pure white wings, flapping strong and direct, much larger than a pigeon,  but nowhere near a goose or swan, (no extended neck), flesh coloured legs dangling behind, clearly visible.  I'm easily familiar with cattle egrets from my trips to the tropics, but I can hardly believe there would be one in Toronto, particularly at this time of the year.  Has anyone else had this particular sighting???  Don

[Kin Lau]

So where did this bird fly? Did it go towards the Islands or Leslie Spit?

A Cattle-Egret at this time of the year would be quite something. They have made it all the way to Antarctica on their own.

OTOH, maybe one from the Metro Zoo escaped? There's a few in the Rhino pen.

[Don Baxter]

The egret was flying directly south over King St. towards Cherry Beach, Ward's Island or the Leslie Spit.  Yesterday the entire harbour was frozen over, so I was feeling a bit dismal about its chances of finding food.  Don