Saw a Great Egret in Central Park Again! (Friday Follow-Up)

A few days ago, in the late evening of Wednesday, June 26, I took a walk to the landing alongside the Delacorte Theatre (in Central Park) with the hopes of observing tortoises in the Turtle Pond which the  landing overlooks. As usual there were numerous turtles swimming in the pond but there were a few teenaged boys standing near the railing so it was hard to get a close view of these reptiles.

The boys were there with fishing gear and speculating on the possibility of their being able to catch catfish.

In very close proximity to the landing a Great Egret was slowly making his/her away along one of the pond's edges. She/he can be seen doing this in the photographs atop this entry.

It had been exactly one month since I saw this avian variety when I was at the lake in Central Park and took a picture of him/her (seen below) with some NYC skyline in the background.

Now, one month later, I see this striking bird type again, and give my unsolicited two cents saying that if this bird was present, the likely hood of fish being present was high for I silently recalled my witnessing (this past April) a Great Egret capturing a fish near CP's Oak Bridge.

I did wonder if the boys knew about the park's catch and release policy but I did not ask them about it. Instead I kept my eye on the birdie and observed his/her's behavior through the long lens of my camera. Here are a few images of his/her antics that I witnessed.

In the first one, he/she is taking a drink.

In the next two pictures, he/she can be seen with some of her feathers standing on end.

I have googled extensively as to what the standing of feathers could mean but I have yet to find an answer; if I do I will add an addendum to this entry.

Perhaps this feather behavior was a result of him/her spiting a fish, which he/she ultimately caught as seen in the next set of photos.

Upon my seeing the Great Egret catching and eating a fish,  I assumed she /he never adhered to the park's catch and release policy (smile) and I also assumed the young boys fishing would do the same if they caught any fish (frown).