Western Reef Heron in Brooklyn

[semillama]

Just saw this on NYC RBA, from birdingonthe.net:

"After not being seen since Wednesday, July 25, the
WESTERN REEF-HERON was seen again in Brooklyn
yesterday (Thursday), between 10 a.m. and 11:15 a.m.,
roosting on the dilapidated barge along the west side
of the cove off Coney Island Creek that is between
Dreier-Offerman Park on the West, and the ballfields
just west of the Home Depot. The REEF-HERON can be
difficult to spot when it is sitting on one of the
barges, so scan carefully. To reach this site
traveling West on the Belt Parkway, get off at Exit 6N
onto Cropsey Avenue. Go north on Cropsey about seven
short blocks to 26th Avenue, which will take you under
the Belt Parkway. So turn left onto 26th Ave and left
again at its end onto Shore Parkway. If going East on
the Belt, get off at Exit 6 onto Shore Parkway.
Follow Shore Parkway past Dreier-Offerman Park until
you come to some ballfields on the right. The Home
Depot will be straight ahead as the road bends to the
left. There is parking in the Home Depot entrance
just beyond Bay 53rd St. Go onto the ballfields and
proceed south towards the creek. Go through an
opening in the ballfield fence and across a small
field to the shore edge. Look at the ruined barges
off shore and especially in the cove, which is viewed
by continuing right, or west along the shore line. "

[kestrel91316]

1. FYI about this vagrant:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Reef_Heron

[vireo]

2. Could it be the same bird that was seen the previous 2 summers?

Speculation from the Stokes' blog entry last year:

So many questions remain. Are the 2005 and all the 2006 sightings all of the same bird? Where did the bird come from in the first place? How long will it stay this year? Where will it go next? Is there some special wintering place it goes to in this hemisphere, that no one has yet discovered? Hmmm, maybe we should all be checking out the herons in Florida this winter, maybe its hanging out with the Snowys and Tri-colored Herons there. Or maybe it winters in Barbados or elsewhere in the Carribean.

And, of course, one of the biggest questions is, is it a Western Reef-Heron in the first place, or maybe a dark morph Little Egret, as current research suggests. There are some fascinating behavioral observations on the Western Reef-Heron seen in Newfoundland in 2005. That bird was seen in the company of a Little Egret (another rarity there at the same time.) The two birds were seen frequently feeding together and often the bird identified as the Western Reef-Heron would pick up twigs or sticks and present them to the Little Egret!

http://stokesbirdingblog.blogspot.com/2006/09/western-reef-heron-continues.html