Eastern Great Egret

Description

     The Eastern Great Egret (Ardea alba modesta), a white heron in the genus Ardea, is a subspecies of the Great Egret (A. alba). It was first described by British ornithologist John Edward Gray in 1831.Although a study argued for full species status in 2005,  most taxonomists consider it to be a subspecies.Measuring 83–103 cm (33–41 in) in length and weighing 0.7–1.2 kg (1.5–2.6 lb), the Eastern Great Egret is a large heron with all-white plumage. Its bill is yellow in the breeding season and black at other times, and its long legs are red or black. 

    The colours of the bare parts change during the breeding season. The breeding plumage is also marked by long neck plumes and a green facial area. The Eastern Great Egret can be distinguished from other white egrets and herons in Asia and Australia by its very long neck, one and a half times as long as its own body.

Behavior, feeding and habitat

    The Eastern Great Egret has a wide distribution throughout Asia and Oceania, with breeding populations in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, China, Korea, north-eastern Russia, Japan, Indochina, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Australia, and New Zealand. The egret breeds across Australia but only rarely in the southwest of the continent or dry interior. The largest colonies within Australia are in the Top End and Channel Country, which can number several thousand pairs. Colonies in the southeast of Australia can number several hundred pairs. The bird is an uncommon autumn and winter visitor to Tasmania.

     The diet includes vertebrates such as fish, frogs, small reptiles, small birds and rodents, and invertebrates such as insects, crustaceans, andmolluscs. The Eastern Great Egret hunts by wading or standing still in shallow water and "spearing" prey with its bill.The Eastern Great Egret often breeds in colonies with other herons, egrets, cormorants, spoonbills and ibises. One brood is raised a year, although the breeding season varies within Australia. 

     In the north of the country it is in March to May, in southern and central Queensland December and January, and October to December in the south. Located atop trees at a height of 20 m (60 ft) or more, the nest is a flat wide platform of dry branches and sticks with a shallow basin for eggs and young. The clutch consists of anywhere from two to six pale blue-green eggs, with three or four being the usual number. They are oval in shape and measure 52 x 36 mm.The subspecies is protected in Australia under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. In New Zealand, where it is known as the kōtuku, the Eastern Great Egret is highly endangered, with only one breeding site at Okarito Lagoon. It is featured on the reverse side of a New Zealand $2 coin.

     We truly had a great time watching this huge egret in the estuary, experiencing for the first time that this egret was close to us, but never chose to fly, instead it was too busy relaxing for the Sunday that, it chose this prominent place until we chose to disperse due to lights getting low in the evening. As usual I was hand-holding my favourite Canon EF 300mm F4L IS USM lens with a Tamron 1.4x extender, mounted on my Canon EOS 7D SLR, wherein I had almost kneeled down & got wet to get this pose. I thank my friends Mr.RK Pai from Vittla and Mr.Deepak Sibal from Bangalore for joining me in this amazing birding evening at Mulki, which was a great one.