Visitors

We have some special guests at the farm this week. Most of our visitors are of the human species, but these are not. They are fowl. And something tells me they’ll be extending their stay. 

We’ve almost gotten used to seeing the Great Blue Heron that comes to our property, since it is a frequent guest. But this week we have birds we’ve never seen before on the land - six of them, in fact. 

As best as we can tell, they are Cattle Egrets. Before you ask, no, we did not recently acquire any cows, much to my husband Houston’s chagrin. (Houston makes no secret of the fact that he’d like to add a couple of miniature Hereford cows to our livestock family. Just ask him and he’ll be happy to tell you the benefits of having cows on one’s property.) And none of the neighbors we share fences with have cows. The closest ones are at least half a mile away.

I was curious why the egrets chose our acreage, so I started digging around on the internet to see what I could find out about them. While they’re mostly seen with cattle, they often make nests near ponds, using sticks. Another interesting detail I discovered (it was on multiple websites, so it must be true) is that these birds typically build their nests in an area already frequented by other herons and egrets. Aha! Thank you, Great Blue Heron!

I’m excited to find out more about this beautiful bird. In case you’re wondering, the Cattle Egret is mostly white, with a yellow beak, yellowish head and back feathers and yellowish, gray legs. It’s not big. If you’ve ever seen one hanging out on the back of a cow, you know what I mean. Some online research revealed that they’re just under two feet tall and have a wingspan of around three feet. 

It was fascinating watching them hunt fish for their breakfast the other day. We’ve seen the blue heron do this as well. Simply amazing. You better believe this “indoorsy” girl will continue to watch and report. 

This piece first appeared in Sherry’s column, Finding Myself in a Small Town, in the August 10, 2024 edition of the Corsicana Daily Sun.