Mr. Norton called me this morning to say that the kids saw a white heron running around the soccer field.  The kids thought that it was a Snowy egret because that was one of the birds we looked for when we went to Plum Island in fall.  When my class ended, I went outside to look for it and sure enough, there it was hunkered down in the shrubs, about 4 feet off the ground, riding out the lousy weather.  Only this wasn't a Snowy egret, it was a Cattle egret.  Cattle egrets are more at home in grassy areas than then in the water.  They often follow horses, cows, and tractors and eat the insects that they stir up.  This is the first time I have seen a cattle egret in Reading!