A lesson in humility

Years ago, when I first moved into egret country, a birder assured me the best way to identify a snowy egret is by its “golden slippers.” That is, the contrast between its yellow feet and black legs is a giveaway.

I often thought the advice was perfectly true but largely useless. Egrets are waders. Those golden slippers are usually underwater.

But one morning, I saw a puzzle: a cattle egret or snowy egret? The plumage was not a good clue. Just as I decided that the bird was too small to be a snowy egret, it flew, showing his yellow feet.

So the day’s lesson was on humility, the kind that would keep me from thinking that my methods are somehow better than the old bird watcher’s.

If you are a naturalist, you need every tool in his box, every trick in the book.