On Oct 13 I posted “Time to leave” Great Egret taking off. Allen ask “Good capture. Now, about that stick protruding from its rear end . . .”
To day Oct 16, I was clearing out some of back files a came across these photographs.
As you can see all three Egrets have this tail extension, the question is what is it. All photographs were taken in April.
Peter Morrissey
Hi Peter. To quote my good old Peterson Field Guide: “When breeding, straight plumes on back extend beyond the tail.”
Peter - really nice details on these egrets, good poses, and interesting environment.
The longest tail feathers are very long, but, in my experience, more splayed than this egret shows. I think they got glommed together and stuck from being in the water all the time, or possibly into goopy mud. At any rate, it’s not a stick! 
Hi Dennis & Sandy
I think Allen was just pointing the long tail extension, I don’t think he thought it was a stick. I just didn’t have a good answer for him. Thank you for the information.
Peter
