A great egret has landed in Rankin Inlet.

The rare fowl soared into the Kivalliq community last month SA国际影视传媒� thrilling eagle-eyed bird watcher Bernice Sandy who spent days on the hunt before finally snapping a few images of the feathered fellow in the wetland behind the Rankin Inlet Healing Facility.

SA国际影视传媒淢y husband showed me that somebody posted a picture of it on their Facebook timeline. Once I saw that I thought SA国际影视传媒榦h, cool, I want to go find it,SA国际影视传媒橲A国际影视传媒� said Sandy. SA国际影视传媒淔or two days I went looking for it and couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 find it, and then I finally saw it on October 17.SA国际影视传媒�

Sandy shared photos of the bird online where many people commented on the images, SA国际影视传媒渋tSA国际影视传媒檚 something new to the community,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

Though common enough in southern Canada, Eric Reed, a waterfowl biologist in Yellowknife, said the birds are seldom seen in the North.

SA国际影视传媒淪ightings are very rare,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淏ut also, thereSA国际影视传媒檚 not a very high density of human population across the North, so a lot of incidents may go undetected.SA国际影视传媒�

In fact, Reed said the last recorded sighting of the species in Nunavut, that he was aware of, was in 2019 on Akimiski Island in James Bay.

A great egret was also seen in 2017 near Inuvik and sightings have also occurred in Alaska and Hawaii SA国际影视传媒渟o they can definitely fly long distances,SA国际影视传媒� said Reed.

After their spring breeding season, egrets become extraordinary travellers as they fly great distances, explore new areas SA国际影视传媒渁nd show up in places where you donSA国际影视传媒檛 necessarily expect them,SA国际影视传媒� said Reed.

Sometimes theySA国际影视传媒檒l settle in new areas if the conditions are right SA国际影视传媒渟o who knows? Maybe we will see egrets more regularly in the North.SA国际影视传媒�

Or, it could be SA国际影视传媒渏ust a little blip,SA国际影视传媒� he added. SA国际影视传媒淛ust the one sighting of the bird, to me, is not sufficient to see that thereSA国际影视传媒檚 an actual expansion of the range.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 a very interesting sighting and itSA国际影视传媒檚 way out of its range, but only time will tell whether this remains a rare occurrence or if they go up in the future,SA国际影视传媒� he continued.

Reed said he could only speculate as to why the bird travelled all the way to Rankin but suspects it was following food sources, such as sticklebacks and other small fish.

SA国际影视传媒淢aybe following a river system, moving up and finding food and keeping going,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

Egrets normally migrate to wintering areas in the U.S. when the weather turns colder and food gets scarce and Reed said the bird should do that before freeze-up.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 a bit of a gamble for the bird to be that far north,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淏ut if itSA国际影视传媒檚 in good shape, if itSA国际影视传媒檚 eating enough, if itSA国际影视传媒檚 in good condition, we can expect it to leave any day now because as soon as those ponds start freezing-over access to food is going to be a lot more limited.SA国际影视传媒�