Snowy Egret in a Mountain Forest
Snowy Egret in a Mountain Forest
During the six weeks ending September 16, 1931, a Snowy Egret (Egretta thula brewsteri) was observed daily by Mr. and Mrs. John Dillwood at Buck Meadow on Deer Creek. Fresno County, California. The elevation of 7,060 feet and the forested environment in low Canadian Life Zone make this occurrence worthy of record. Starting from the San Joaquin Valley, the bird could easily fly up the Kings River, then Dinkey Creek and later to its tributary, Deer Creek.
This incursion of cold climate environment through altitudinal wandering is a counterpart of latitudinal wandering into Nova Scotia and British Columbia, which places the Snowy Egret in Canadian Life Zone faunas a thousand miles northward. My identification of Mr. and Mrs. Dillwood's long observed bird as the Snowy Egret is by their size comparisons with the Great Blue Heron and Anthony Green Heron (with both of which they are quite familiar), and the fact that it had a black bill. It is significant to note the disappearance of the bird on the day “deer hunting” began.
Roland Case Ross
Los Angeles City Schools, September 15, 1933
