Great White Egret

I was having a conversation with another wildlife photographer earlier in the week, (while looking for bearded tits) which was broadly about the changing composition of the birdlife in this country.  

The conversation was kicked off by a great white egret overflying us.  He made the point that once, not very long ago, perhaps only 10 years ago, great white egrets were rarely seen in this country and something that wildlife photographers would potentially travel to, in the hope of photographing.  Nowadays if you go to one of the Avalon Marshes reserves you should see several, without too much trouble.

Other birds, such as marsh warblers have all but disappeared. You might see one occasionally if you are lucky, (although they are easily confused with the almost identical looking reed warbler).  But the few marsh warbler breeding pairs that the UK sees tend to be on the east coast.

So the bird in today's shot is in some small way a bit of a success story at a time when many other species are failing to thrive.