Cattle Egret Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: How often do you get to a chance to catch a bird in it's teenage, punk-rock stage of life? Cattle Egrets aren't something I see very often in South Dakota. They just don't breed around southeastern South Dakota, and aren't found here in migration much. They are found further north in the state more often though, and I bird enough around the Lake Thompson area, for example, to see them on occasion. This was a real treat though to not only come across some Cattle Egret near Lake Madison, but to see them in the most colorful, outlandish breeding plumage that I've ever seen on the species. From April 19th, 2020 near Lake Madison, South Dakota.

Cattle Egret - Bubulcus ibis


Cattle Egret 1 May 5th, 2005 Lake County, South Dakota	Cattle Egret 2 June 23rd, 2005 Assateague Island, Virginia	Cattle Egret 3 June 23rd, 2005 Assateague Island, Virginia	Cattle Egret 4 May 3rd, 2015 Kingsbury County, South Dakota

Cattle Egret 5 May 3rd, 2015 Kingsbury County, South Dakota	Cattle Egret 6 May 3rd, 2015 Kingsbury County, South Dakota	Cattle Egret 7 May 18th, 2018 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Cattle Egret 8 May 13th, 2018 Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Cattle Egret 9 May 13th, 2018 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Cattle Egret 10 May 13th, 2018 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Cattle Egret 11 April 19th, 2020 Near Lake Madison, South Dakota	Cattle Egret 12 April 19th, 2020 Near Lake Madison, South Dakota

Cattle Egret 13 April 19th, 2020 Near Lake Madison, South Dakota