MA - Great Egrets aplenty

This morning I made a casual check of Barton Cove from the Turner's Falls side of the Connecticut River. Water levels (controlled) were nice and low and it seemed more than reasonable to hope for a few shorebirds. Alas no shorebirds could be found but that was more than compensated for by an actual flock of Great Egrets! Although late summer Great Egret sightings are not rare in Turner's Falls, all of my observations in recent years have been of singles so to have a flock of six was almost too good to be true! The birds spent time on the Turner's Falls side of the Connecticut River before a dog walker flushed them over to the Gill side where they landed on a fully exposed sand bar. It should be interesting to see how long they stick around, if at all.

Great Egrets - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. July 30th, 2015.

First time I've seen an actual 'flock' of Great Egrets in Franklin County!

Also of interest this morning, several Yellow Warblers moving south over Barton Cove and at least 100 Chimney Swifts hawking of the residential areas of Turner's Falls.