Early autumn is a wonderful time to visit Plum Island.

Plum Island Dunes

Plum island is a barrier island along the northern coast of Massachusetts, named after the beach plum shrubs that grow along its dunes. There are several pools that attract birds along the island's central road, as well as great ocean views and some forested areas. 

Great Egrets, Plum Island

The fall colors were superb and there was an abundance of egrets along the pools. I counted well over a dozen Great Egrets and two Snowy Egrets.

Great Egret with American Wigeons

The sky was overcast for most of my visit, but the sun broke through just enough to get some beautiful close range shots of the birds.  

Snowy Egret, Plum Island  

The pools were filled with a variety of ducks, including American and Eurasian Wigeons and Black Scoters. There were two Mute Swans and a number of Greater Yellowlegs along the grassy edges of the pools.

Greater Yellowlegs

Turkey Vultures and a Sharp-shinned Hawk flew overhead. The Great Egrets, however, truly stole the show with their svelte all-white plumage, contrasting black legs, and blade-like bills. If the Great Blue Heron has "an eye like the full moon" (Mary Oliver, A Poem for the Great Blue Heron), its close cousin the Great Egret has an eye like the sun- bright, yellow, and fiercely intense. Once on the brink of extinction due to their prized feathers, the abundant egret population marks a conservation success story, commemorated in the image used in the National Audubon Society's logo.

Great Egret, Plum Island