Gentlemen Prefer Gingers

By the time you are reading this, we will be off to southern Texas. Believe this is the first time we have visited our favorite state at this time of year. By now I am sure everyone is aware we spent lot of our vacation time on the Gulf Coast and down along the Rio Grande Valley during our corporate years. We have continued… and extended our time there now into our retirement years. Our company would shut down between Christmas and New Year’s (initially started to reduce costs at our manufacturing facilities). No longer bound by the designated vacation days, we have been spending all of January in that warmer climate – well, up until this year when we decided to try out Arizona instead – regretted. Having missed our time in Texas, we are making our first Spring visit and excited to try out a new birding season. There is a bit of concern about the tourist competition being in the midst of Spring Break for many of the schools across the nation. Time will tell, but honestly, it is hard for us to ever be disappointed down there. I may be a bit sparse as we chew up the miles and I also know Brad will be heading back out on assignment soon, so apologies in advance for the expected delays in responses. The good news is we have plenty of material ready to go to keep everyone entertained while we are out and about.

Without further delay, how about we get to today’s featured feathered friend!

Hit the jump to read more about our ginger feathered specimen.

Just in case you are not up on your large shorebirds, this is the Reddish Egret. They are rather distinctive in their adult “standard” plumage with their ginger/cinnamon colored head and neck feathering matched up beautifully with their slate grey body and cobalt blue legs. Add in their very distinctive two-toned bill (black and pink) and you should have yourself a pretty quick ID.

I will admit my confidence was shaken thanks to an unexpected sighting of a Reddish Egret in its white morph disguise (link here). At the time I thought I was observing a juvenile Little Blue Heron (link here). I have had many encounters with those and aware that species eventually sheds their white coats for the purplish/slate grey adult feathering. The white morphs of the Reddish are far rarer and maintain their whites through their adulthood. Big thanks again, to Ted Jennings (link here) who spotted this distinction in my previous post. Luckily with this specimen, there is no need to go down any alternate IDs.

Ginger here was spotted at the South Padre Island Bird Viewing and Nature Center back in January of 2023. The element that initially caught my attention was how calm this particular individual was. Normally when they are hunting it is basically a frantic pants off dance off event sure to catch the judgemental eye of the much more laid back Great Egret cousins.

Ibis: “Hey GE, is that one of yours out there dancing like Elaine from Seinfeld?” (link here)

GE: “Nope, never seen it before, no siree, not a chance, no way in hell, probably one of those punk Spoonbills, I gotta go.

I thought I had a post showing their elaborate dance, but having problems finding it on the road (will update if I stumble upon it). Imagine them with their wings up hopping madly about like the water was made of hot coals. Although easily mistaken for being infested with Ceti Alpha 5’s only remaining indigenous lifeform (link here), the erratic behavior is actually purposeful. This “Canopy Feeding”, as Cornell’s website refers to it, tricks their Minnow prey into seeking the shadows for safety and their other bodily antics flush others from their hiding places. Humorous for the rest of the shorebirds, but you can’t knock the effectiveness.

As mentioned, this specimen really peaked my interest for the lack of movement. A slow step here, dip of the head there and a random bill opening was about it. Absolutely perfect conditions to get some crisp shots with the big glass.

Hope you enjoyed this quick look at one of my favorites from the Egret/Heron family. I can’t wait to make it back down there and see what the Birding Center has to offer this year – especially excited to see what this new season will add to the already incredible birding down there!

33 thoughts on “Gentlemen Prefer Gingers”

  1. Forgot your rainbow shades and Arizona left you cold? Hopefully Spring in SW Texas isn’t too windy. The Ginger is beautiful. The Snowy Egrets I see in the clear water ditch are very slow and focused and then wham, they strike, grab a bullfrog and swallow it.

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    1. Sure did! So far we have woken up to Tornado sirens in MO and Linda fought the wind all the way across the state. Nothing like running across the plains in Tornado season, but hopefully once we turn further south the weather will start cooperating better – have to admit the temps are pretty nice – 80s last two days. Those Snowies are much more methodical – wiggle those yellow galoshes around, startle an unsuspecting victim and then stick, swallow and burp.. They must laugh when they watch these Reds try to fish ha. Thanks for coming by and take care.

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      1. I remember driving out of Oklahoma City one morning into a jet black storm. We couldn’t see a thing in any direction but the few feet of asphalt the headlights barely to illuminated. I’ve driven in fierce thunderstorms out here, but nothing as black and dark as that storm was.

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        1. Yikes, we haven’t had to drive in anything that dark yet. At home we get a random twister coming through later in the summer, but so far (cross fingers, knock on wood) they have gone south or north of us just before reaching us. An Angry Mother Nature can be scary, that’s for sure.

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          1. Mother Nature can be brutal. The enviroweenies are an arrogant and stubborn lot. Mother Nature whacks their pee pees and they still don’t get whose boss. Maybe Mother Nature needs to hire some hit nuns to whack those whackoes.

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  3. These are fabulous photographs of the reddish egrets! For some reason, we need to travel to either the Gulf Coast or further north on the Atlantic coast to see them here – they seem to rarely appear in my area of Southeast Florida. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the white Morph, but I can see why one could easily confuse it for a young little blue heron.

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    1. Thank you, appreciate the kind words. You would think the habitat in that section of Florida would also be conducive to their preferred habitats. I have only seen that one white morph Reddish in my lifetime and it definitely fooled me. Now that I know to look for those long feathers on their neck I am hoping I’ll be able to distinguish them in the field from now on (no promises ha). As always thanks for taking the time to come by.

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    1. Thanks Ted! We’ll make our way down to south Texas in a few more days which will give us a good chance of spotting more of these Egrets assuming the weather holds – just missed a tornado in MO and there were over 100 cars destroyed by hail earlier today on I55 in IL which we had just come through the day before. Need to get out of the Midwest as soon as we can ha. Take care.

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        1. Spent a pretty scary RV day on Galveston Island last year in just 60 mph winds and that scared me enough – I can’t imagine what a hurricane level winds would be like. I am guessing you have experienced something like that down there – if not directly, likely the fringe winds. Granted we have tornadoes, but those usually don’t go beyond a mile wide path vs the large swaths of those storms.

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          1. Hurricanes, high water, are just a fact of life in the Lowcountry. Most skim by Charleston because of the shore line, but I have been through about 5 in 8 years here. High water… always, we are at sea level. Personally, still better than a Tornado…been there

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          2. I’ll take your word for it seeing as how you have experience with both, but twisters usually do not evacuate a 1/3rd of the state – now those in the funnel direct path … agree.

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    1. Thank you Kaya and appreciate the kind words. Very pleased I was able to stumble on such a calm specimen that gave me a chance to get some decent shots. Appreciate you coming by and have a great rest of your week.

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    1. Ha, you got me there – originally I was going to go the Mary Ann vs Ginger route and opted at the last minute to go with a twist on the Marylin route – so much pop culture so little time. So far we have been skirting the “safe” part. As I mentioned to Ted above, we woke up to tornado sirens this morning and then found out over 100 cars were destroyed on I55 in southern IL later in the day on the same road we had taken yesterday. Hopefully will get below that front line tomorrow and then on to Texas. Take care and appreciate the well wishes.

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  7. Nice Ginger. Gilligan just off camera? I’ve not seen one yet, but I know it’s in the future. Probably won’t be any where my upcoming assignment is taking me, but you never know what you find when there’s water in a desert. HQ and the Regional Office were unaffected by the latest storms here, just chilly now. Travel Safe!

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    1. Hahaha – mentioned in a response to Tanja that I almost went with the 3 hour tour reference. Fingers crossed one will be out and about (read lost) at the Henderson ponds if you make your way there. Good to hear the storms didn’t impact the homeland – lots of car damage on south I55 due to the hail that came through there. Safe travels yourself!

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  8. At one of our favorite Florida coastal spots, we call Ginger “Big Red”. Whatever his/her name is, those birds are entertaining!

    We’ve seen the white morph both along the central FL west coast and directly across the state at Merritt Island NWR at Cape Canaveral.

    Enjoy your spring trip!

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    1. “Big Red”, like that ha. You have definitely had your looks at the morph, hoping I am better prepared for my next encounter. Trip started out a bit frustrating as we went 7 days straight of all day rains. Finally stopped a few days ago and trying my best to get caught up on all the birds missed during the downpours. On the island now and based on the 3 hours of birding after we arrived – we should be in good shape! Take care and thanks for dropping in.

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  10. Always good to see a Reddish up close, and I love their blue legs. I’ve watched them many times, and it is interesting that some of the time they don’t dance, and instead just watch and wait – great way to conserve energy. Happy hunting!

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    1. I have seen a few just standing around, but I always assumed they were just sleeping with their eyes open ha. Saw one at the SPI Bird Viewing Center this week that was off in the brush tearing lower limbs off the mangroves. Was confused until a lady I know that guides there mentioned the female was sitting on a nest right near there – must have been grabbing more stuffing for the mattress. Just left SPI and heading for Port Aransas to hopefully get a Whooper if they haven’t left yet …maybe a Frigate as the cherry on top! Appreciate you coming by Sam and hopefully when I get back to the digital lab I can start posting on all the new finds.

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    1. Thank you SoyBend! They are a lot of fun to watch while they are hunting as they dance like they have ants in their pants as they chase after their prey. Fortunately, this one stood still long enough for me to get some good looks. Have a great rest of your week and take care.

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