A rare Cattle Egret was reported to me on November 15, by Alan Bigelow. He has a farm at 840 Larmer Line near Millbrook, almost adjacent to the 115. He says the bird has been present for a week and is usually seen in the field with his cattle. It was seen and photographed at noon today by Martin Parker, Luke Berg, Matthew Tobey and me. The egret flew out of a grove of trees and then into a fence and a stack of hay bales. The bird looked stressed and not in good shape, so Martin and Luke decided to capture it by hand. The bird was thin and was cool when handled, but warmed up on the trip back to Peterborough and was alert. Luke and his mother took the bird to a rehabilitator in Napanee, that has experience in caring for Cattle Egrets.
Drew Monkman