I’ve seen lots of Great Egrets (Ardea alba) over the past couple of years, but until recently I had never seen a juvenile one and had no idea that they were so small compared to the adults.
I caught this little interaction between what I assume is a mother and a young egret at Cameron Run, a tributary of the Potomac River in Alexandria, Virginia. The birds were standing on one of a number of concrete slabs that cross the entire width of the stream, presumably to slow down the flow of the water.
UPDATE: A number of more experienced birders have weighed in and pointed out that the smaller egret is not a juvenile Great Egret as I thought, but is instead a Snowy Egret (Egretta thula), a species that I had never seen before. As a result, the scenario below that I imagined is no longer valid—I’ll have to think a bit more about what herons of two different species might have been discussing.
The mother seemed to be giving instructions to the young one to stay put while she flies off to fish a short distance away.
Mom gets a bit excited as she warns the little one to stay put
The little one finally agrees
The mother eventually is reassured and takes off for the rocky edge of the water, hoping for a quick catch, so that she can feed the hungry youngster.
Flying away for a little while
Searching for the perfect spot for fishing
The young egret is left all alone to wait for the return of his Mom, hopefully with a tasty snack.
Waiting for Mom
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I think what you’ve got there is a Great Egret and a Snowy Egret…
Thanks for the assist in identification. Others have weighed in with a similar identification in Facebook. I’ve never seen a Snowy Egret before and made the erroneous assumption that the two birds were the same species. Later today I’ll add a disclaimer to the original posting with the corrected identification.
I’ve had a few suggestions come my way too over the years, no worries. Those birds are beautiful.
Yes, the yellow feet say Snowy Egret to me. Nice comparison shots.
Thanks, Josh. I am a neophyte when it comes to identifying birds and the verbal descriptions of relative size are hard for me to visualize. It sure looks like the Snowy Egret is a whole lot smaller than the Great Egret. Is it possible to tell if it is an adult Snowy or a juvenile?
Immature birds have yellow on the back of their legs, whereas adults have entirely black legs. I’m finding it hard to judge the leg color from the photos.
It’s a great story anyway regardless of what they are and a good find.
I think I would have thought the same. After all, how often do you see two entirely different species of egret standing side by side? Great comparison shots!
I suspect that the Snowy Egret was migrating though the area–it’s getting to be that time of the year. The Great Egrets leave us for the winter too, though the Great Blue Herons hang around throughout most of the winter.
Despite your discovery I like your story.
Thanks. The reality is a bit different from the story, but I am ok with that.