Vermont Rare Bird Reports 2022

Sunny, bird was mostly backlit.

8x42 binoculars during initial sighting -- naked eye during flight

This is a common species during the summer, which I have seen and photographed many, many times over the years, both resting and in flight.

Dammed upper portion of McCuen Slang, a pond of about 3-4 acres with the shoreline densely vegetated with trees, shrubs, and old fields.

Perched in a tangle of dead branches at water level across the pond, about 60m away. The bird then flew across the pond towards me and landed in the brush at the base of the dam about 10m away. Green Herons have a distinctive flight pattern ("deep, snappy" wingbeats as described in Sibley), which I am familiar with and which this bird exhibited.

Silent

I watched this bird perched in the brush at the opposite edge of the pond about 60m away for about a minute, at first trying to discern if it was even a bird or just a lump of wood. It revealed itself to be a bird when it turned its head sideways, revealing a brownish head and long heron bill, though the angle of the sun prevented any more detailed plumage observations. It then flew across the pond towards me and landed at the near edge of the pond about 10m away from my location on the road, where I lost sight of it behind the bushes. While flying it provided excellent close up views of the characteristic flight of a Green Heron, with deep wingbeats, and a shaggy crest. It was a short flight and the bird's neck remained outstretched for the entire flight. The bird was mostly backlit, so plumage details were not visible. I tried to get a photo after the bird landed, but was unable to relocate it and I did not want to stress the bird. eBird records show the latest date ever confirmed in Vermont was November 1, 2000, which puts this well past the previous late date. Green Herons are common here during the summer, and the pond was still mostly unfrozen.

Small heron, flying with outstretched neck during its short flight

Shaggy crest. Plumage details not visible.

Long, pointed heron bill

Plumage details not visible.

Plumage details not visible.

Rounded, appeared cupped while flying. Plumage details not visible.

Plumage details not visible.

Short

The only other small heron that could be expected here would be a Black-crowned Night Heron, but the flight profile of this bird was noticeably slimmer than the chunky shape of a Black-crown Night Heron. In addition, the shaggy crest and the flight behavior did not fit for Black-crowned Night Heron.

Because plumage details were not visible, I couldn't determine if this bird was immature or adult.