A Cattle Egret had been
reported yesterday and was still there today so Roger and I decided to go and
have a look.
There had been a photo
published on the LROS website and I was rather surprised to see so much buff
there was on the head but the rest of the bird was not visible. When we arrived the bird had flown over the
road and was feeding in a stubble feed that had recently been harvested. We were able to get reasonably close and it
was immediately apparent that the bird appeared to be in full breeding plumage,
which cast some doubt on to its origin.
I suggested to Roger that we should check to see if there were any rings
on the bird but we could see nothing as it fed in the middle of the field. As it came close I became more interested in
taking some photos until Roger announced that it had a yellow ring on its left
leg that convinced us that it was almost certainly an escape. It was however a superb bird and did perform
rather well for the observers that were present.
We eventually went back across
the road and visited the reserve. There
was little of note, a Sparrowhawk and three Teal being the best.
Breeding plumage Cattle Egret
Breeding plumage Cattle Egret
Breeding plumage Cattle Egret
Breeding plumage Cattle Egret (yellow ring and primary wear c;early visible)
Female Shoveler
Sparrowhawk
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