All About Pocket Knives

TPK wrote: ↑Sat Oct 16, 2021 6:53 pm Interesting.....

New_Windsor_NY wrote: ↑Sun Oct 17, 2021 5:51 pm Another article from an August 1946, New York newspaper.

1967redrider wrote: ↑Sun Oct 24, 2021 1:32 am These birds have been hanging around the cows all day today, never seen any before. At first my brother thought the chickens were out. White feathered bodies and head, yellow beaks and gray legs. When I tried to get close they would take off. They looked like a cross between a young white turkey and a seagull.

Paladin wrote: ↑Sun Oct 24, 2021 1:37 am

1967redrider wrote: ↑Sun Oct 24, 2021 1:32 am These birds have been hanging around the cows all day today, never seen any before. At first my brother thought the chickens were out. White feathered bodies and head, yellow beaks and gray legs. When I tried to get close they would take off. They looked like a cross between a young white turkey and a seagull.

Cattle egrets, maybe?

Ray

Paladin wrote: ↑Sun Oct 24, 2021 1:44 am Well, we do have them here, or similar, here but I have no idea as to their range.

Ray

treefarmer wrote: ↑Sun Oct 24, 2021 2:37 am 1967redrider,
I'll agree they are what we know as Cattle Egrets here in Florida. They forage along with the cows, grabbing grasshoppers, frogs etc. that are disturbed by the cow's movement through the pasture. They also will pick insects off the cow's back as they graze along. A couple of your pictures show them standing on the backs of the cows that are lying down. Cattle Egrets will also follow a tractor or a lawn mower, same strategy, catching bugs, etc. that are disturbed by the equipment. On many occasions I would start in a field and a lone egret would fly in and land, in a minute or two another and another till you couldn't keep a count. They must have learned to come to the sound of an engine that remains in a general area.
Tried to eat one many years ago, tough doesn't even come close, even after parboiling then pan frying the breast. Good flavor probably due to the seasoning, never again.
Treefarmer

1967redrider wrote: ↑Sun Oct 24, 2021 1:32 am These birds have been hanging around the cows all day today, never seen any before. At first my brother thought the chickens were out. White feathered bodies and head, yellow beaks and gray legs. When I tried to get close they would take off. They looked like a cross between a young white turkey and a seagull.

treefarmer wrote: ↑Sun Oct 24, 2021 4:12 am I just looked up info concerning the Cattle Egrets being protected. They are, as they are considered a migratory bird and are protected by the "Migratory Bird Treaty Act" of 1918. Who knew? Since they originated in Africa and came to Florida in 1941, I suppose they are migratory. Once the weather in the Panhandle cools down we wont generally see them til it warms up in the spring. Maybe they head back to Central or South Florida for the winter, kinda' like some snowbirds.
Treefarmer

joeradza wrote: ↑Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:55 pm I’m.....

Quick Steel wrote: ↑Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:12 am In Hawaii, when the sugar cane fields are burned, the egrets come from all over Ohau to feast on the roasted insects and critters. Hundreds of them.

New_Windsor_NY wrote: ↑Tue Oct 26, 2021 12:12 am

joeradza wrote: ↑Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:55 pm I’m.....

You could've fooled me.
That's a GREAT shot joeradza!

joeradza wrote: ↑Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:55 pm I’m not much of a bird photographer but when they stand there and pose even I get lucky. Taken at J.R. Ding Darling on Sanibel Island, Florida.

Waukonda wrote: ↑Tue Oct 26, 2021 12:15 am

joeradza wrote: ↑Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:55 pm I’m not much of a bird photographer but when they stand there and pose even I get lucky. Taken at J.R. Ding Darling on Sanibel Island, Florida.

Exceptional photo!