Cattle Egret Foraging for Insects

Yesterday, I posted a couple of images of a small group of Cattle Egrets that were at Squaw Creek NWR a couple of weeks ago (“Where’s the Beef?”). Today’s post shows the egrets as they foraged for food among the taller grasses. I was quite surprised to see that the egrets were actually finding insects in the grasses … the temperatures ranged from ~15F to 35F … who would have thought they would be able to find insects in those conditions!

The first clue that anything was being caught was seeing this egret trying to swallow something (although we couldn’t see anything):

 

Cattle Egret

 

 

Not long after, I was awarded by seeing an insect being caught:

 

Cattle Egret catching an insect

 

Cattle Egret catching insect

 

Cattle Egret with insect

 

Cattle Egret with insect

 

 

We don’t see many of these little guys around the area, but they sure are fun to watch when you do find them!

As you may know, last Saturday I took a day trip to southwest Missouri to attend a “Birds of Prey Field ID Tips” program, followed by a short-eared owl field trip at a nearby prairie. The program/field trip was organized by the Missouri Prairie Foundation (which I’m proud to be a member) and the Missouri Conservation Department. This was a rewarding trip and I will post more on the program and some Short-eared Owl images in tomorrow’s post!

 

 

 

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