Egret

A little egret feeding along the shoreline of Morecambe Bay in Silverdale. Gus's evening walk was perfectly mistimed, the sun disappeared into cloud as we arrived hoping for a sunset.

But no egrets, I think this is my first little egret blip. I remember seeing my first British little egret as it flew over our car in Dungeness about 25 years ago. For many years, here in the north of England, they were a rare treat, if I saw one in a year I was happy. Now I see them every day, lots of them. They have moved in with the herons to breed at Dallam. There are winter roosts at Leighton Moss of 80+ birds (and maybe more if I was to check latest figures). Their colonisation of Britain is an extraordinary rapid success story, possibly linked to a warming climate. And their colonisation of Britain is being followed by their scaled up relative, the great white egret.