Tag: #AssateagueAnimals

Assateague Heron

I saw an egret coexisting for a short while with a heron on a tree. Is this a little blue heron or a tricoloured heron?

These are not the best shots because of the direction of the light and cloud cover. I could not go elsewhere. It was facing land and I was in a kayak.

Looks like the heron is smaller than the Great Egret here.

Still looks smaller than the egret.

The great egret was not bothered by the heron sharing the tree.

In the above picture the heron appears to have a white underbelly. It looks like maybe a bit of a stripe down from its neck to its chest, but not the best angle to see. The eye seems reddish with yellow around it. The feathers around the head appear to be mostly grey with more purplish tones in the back of the head. The sun poked out from the clouds and we have a better view of its colours.

I am guessing this means this is a tricoloured heron. Correct me if I am wrong. What do you think? Either way it is the first time I have seen a tricoloured or a little blue.

Assateague Great Egret

There are a lot of great egrets at Assateague. You can many times see them just as you cross over the bridge onto the island. From the island side if you look on both sides of the road at the marsh areas you usually see a few on each side after the bridge.

This is in front of the building right next to the National Park boat launch on Ferry Landing Road.

These were all taken on the bay side of the island from a kayak.

Near one of the nature viewing areas.

I mostly saw egrets standing on trees, or standing next to the water in the grasses. They pose great for pictures!

Oyster Catcher

There is a lot more to Assateague Island in Maryland than the wild horses. There are many different kinds of birds you can see from the ocean side and the bay side of the island. One such bird is the American Oyster Catcher.

I like the way it walked at times lifting his leg up high like he was marching.

I did see an oyster catcher briefly early in the morning around sunrise on the ocean side at the state park beach. I only saw one. However, when I went kayaking from the bay side launch later in the morning at the Assateague Island National Park I saw some walking around the edge of an island in the bay. This one went in and out of the water.

This oyster catcher appears to be holding a razor clam.

I was lucky enough to catch it bring up a shell with an animal protruding out. It appears to be a razor clam. This oyster catcher seemed quite proud of his catch as he walked around with it for a while. Their diet consists of shell fish such as clams and oysters.

He is back to looking for food.

I did not know I was able to get this bird with its prey until I started looking at the photos on my computer after my trip. If you hang out long enough, are patient and take lots of snaps hoping for the best, you may get lucky.