A Question................

[Big J R]

........ for the better informed.

 

When coming home from a weekend away near Newhaven on Sunday morning we were being driven through the village of Rodmell between Newhaven and Lewes when we passed a field adjacent to the river Ouse. I spotted what appeared to me to be a small flock of what I thought were white egrets. Absolutely stunningly white in the morning sunshine. They were feeding with a fairly large flock of Canada geese.

 

They had the long, what I describe as backward-bending legs and what apperaed to be fairly large crests on their heads.

 

Were my eyes mistaken ? First time I've ever spotted such a bird in this country.

[Eastside Urchin]

Little egrets,they are all over the country now,have been for the last 10 years or so,before that they were just reported every now and then but they are everywhere now.

Also there are increasing sightings of great white egrets and cattle egrets which will probably be next to colonise the uk

[Big J R]

Cheers UM.

 

Must be the global warming.

 

They looked absolutely beuatiful birds.

[Dagger03]

>>>Must be the global warming.

 

 

No, it's just an expansion of their territory - little egret were reported occasionally up to 1989 when the first breeding pairs were at Weymouth (Radipole) and Poole harbour - the real increase has been in the last five years, and is mainly confined to coastal areas.

 

You can easily recognised the little egret, because it is all white - about two thirds the size of a heron. I can be mistaken for a gull so be careful.

 

The great white egret is larger than a heron and the cattle egret is smaller than the little egret and can be identified sometimes by the yellow mohican on its head (males only in summer).

 

The snowy egret is much smaller and is not found in the UK.

 

Very common in the Southend area - up to 60 at Two Tree and often to be seen at low tide around the pier area.

[Eastside Urchin]

there has been upto 12 at rainham the last few weeks and i expect that number to increase during the spring.

I actually went through that area today but didn't see any egrets

[Big J R]

Thanks for all that info.

 

We passed the field fairly fast, but I estimated there must have been between 15 and 20 mixed in with the geese.