Rita Schuettler e-mailed me this past week to share some recent observations.

 

She informed me that for two or three days, she observed a long-legged, slim white bird in the water at a pond at Quail Hollow.

 

"It is a lone bird, with a yellow bill, and I need to go back and check the color of the legs," she informed me in the e-mail.

 

She had narrowed the possible identities to Great White Heron or a Great Egret.

 

"I was really surprised to see it standing there," she said.

 

Rita said that a flock of Canada Geese and possibly some smaller shorebirds have also been present at the pond.

 

She also reported that she has done what she could to make the hot weather more bearable for her feathered friends.

 

"The heat has made it miserable for me and other creatures," she wrote. "I saw some crows on the ground with the beaks open from the heat. I've tried to remember to keep lots of water in the bird baths and the birds seem to have enjoyed the fresh water."

 

Another e-mail from Rita informed me that she had been unable to relocate the visiting white wading bird.

 

Still, from her description, I am fairly confident Rita observed a Great Egret. There are very few reports of Great White Herons in northeast Tennessee. On the other hand, the Great Egret is a fairly common visitor, particularly in late summer. I have been noticing many reports of Great Egrets at popular birding locations near lakes, rivers and ponds.

 

The Great Egret is a smaller relative of the Great Blue Heron. The Great White Heron, on the other hand, is only a Great Blue Heron in white feathers. This unusual color variation occurs mostly in Florida, but a few Great White Herons do wander north of the Sunshine State. There's more on the tendency of the wading birds to wander later in this column.

 

The herons are wading birds in the Ardeidae family. There are 64 recognized species in this family. Some are called egrets or bitterns instead of herons.

 

Herons are excellent anglers, but they will eat more than fish. The world's herons also feed on aquatic creatures ranging from crabs and crayfish to reptiles, such as snakes, lizards and even small alligators. Their diet also includes insects, small mammals and birds, amphibians and earthworms.

 

Members of the family range in size from the Goliath Heron, which can reach 60 inches in height with a wingspan of 91 inches. The Goliath Heron can reach a weight of 11 pounds. In contrast, the Great Blue Heron stands about 55 inches tall and weighs only about 4.5 pounds.

 

Vying for distinction as the smallest of the world's herons are several diminutive bitterns, some of which are only about 10 inches tall and weigh only about three to four ounces.

 

In the Americas, the smallest of the herons is the Least Bittern, which can reach 14 inches in length but weighs only about 3.5 ounces.

 

By comparison, the Green Heron -- the smallest heron typically encountered in Northeast Tennessee -- reaches a length of about 18 inches and weighs about 8.5 ounces.

 

A survey of some common names of herons include Boat-billed Heron, Black Heron, White-crested Tiger-heron, New Guinea Tiger-heron, Zigzag Heron, White-backed Night Heron, White-eared Night Heron, Capped Heron, Rufous-bellied Heron and Whistling Heron.

 

Egrets around the world include Slaty Egret, Little Egret, Great Egret, Reddish Egret and Snowy Egret while the bitterns include American Bittern, Great Bittern, Little Bittern, Cinnamon Bittern, Yellow Bittern and Dwarf Bittern.

 

After the business of nesting and rearing young is concluded, both adults and immature herons, egrets and bitterns tend to wander. These dispersals from their breeding grounds can sometimes send these long-legged waders on some long journeys, treating birders to unexpected sightings.

 

They are not the only long-legged wading birds to engage in such travels. For instance, Kingsport resident Brent Harris discovered an immature Roseate Spoonbill on Aug. 19 at Surgoinsville's Phipps Bend Industrial Park. While classified with the wading birds, the Roseate Spoonbill is not a heron.

 

Roseate Spoonbills, which have strongholds in Florida and along the Gulf Coast, are rare visitors to Tennessee. Like many wading birds, however, they tend to disperse and wander widely after the end of breeding season. This is not truly migration, but some of them fly great distances and show up in some unusual areas.

 

Many years ago, I observed an immature Roseate Spoonbill in Greene County. I made two trips with Reece Jamerson and the late Howard Langridge before we succeeded in finding the bird, which stood out like a proverbial sore thumb in a flock of several dozen Canada Geese.

 

Such sightings underscore the fact that you can never be sure what you might see when birds are on the move.

 

Keep your eyes open and your binoculars close at hand.

 

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At home this past week, I got my first indication that the warblers are starting to migrate through the region. On the morning of Aug. 26, I observed five different warblers -- Blackburnian, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green and Worm-eating -- foraging in the branches of mimosa, willow and wild cherry trees. I also observed Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Red-eyed Vireos, Gray Catbirds, Song Sparrows, Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice at the same time.

 

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Get outdoors and see what you can see. Share your sightings, ask a question or make a comment by calling me at 542-4151 or 297-9077. E-mail me at bstevens@starhq.com or ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.