Little egret

[ilan]

Spent a couple of hours today having a wonder around the Hampshire coast and estury . I spent sometime watching what I think was a pair of little egrets looking like a small white heron about 20" high or so . Yet my book seems to think these are quite rare so is there anything i could have confused them with , or are they now more common Or was I just lucky ?

 

[Wayne]

Little Egrets are much more common in Hants and Sussex than they used to be.

 

[tomtom]

There are tonnes of them around here, I saw around thirty of them roosting in the same tree not so long ago, it was an amazing site. They have been able to establish a stronger foot hold in the south of the country as a result (I think) of warmer winters.

 

[British Red]

Ilan,
Whilst I can't confirm your sighting, there were certainly Little Egrets around in Hampshire on Saturday - they were fishing the flooded stream beds by the Bucks Head in Meonstoke

Always nice to see em - pretty birds

Red

 

[JonnyP]

Got loads around here. They are quite hard to get a photo of cos they are pretty scaredy, but did manage this one while out in the canoe.
They have bright yellow feet which I think is amusing...

 

[redandshane]

Funny enough we saw some on Shearwater near Longleat on Saturday
Much rarer on British soil though about half an hour later we walked past two Hippos and a Gorilla
Even checked out the Hippos tracks

 

[ilan]

Hi yes was walking the hayling billy trail on Hayling island . what also amazes me is the large noz of rabbits that just graze all day on the slopes above the old oyster beds . Just as pity that you get the traffic roar bouncing back from the hills from the A27 still a nice day out and quiet enough to get the old kelly kettle out for a brew as well

 

[Bernie Garland]

Hi yes was walking the hayling billy trail on Hayling island . what also amazes me is the large noz of rabbits that just graze all day on the slopes above the old oyster beds . Just as pity that you get the traffic roar bouncing back from the hills from the A27 still a nice day out and quiet enough to get the old kelly kettle out for a brew as well

as a young child i can remember going to see the last run of the hayling billy in 1963 with my grandparents,pity they don't restore the line as its murder getting of by car at peak times.

bernie

 

[robin wood]

little egrets have been increasing for a good many years now ...spoonbills getting more common and breeding in suffolk, storks next?

 

[Osprey]

Little Egrets have been steadily increasing in the South of England for the last dacade or so, possibly as a result of climate change. They are also occasionally seen further north. There were a couple at Leighton Moss in Lancashire last October along with a Greater Egret, and there is one as far north as Loch of Strathbeg at the moment which is on the tip of the North-East coast of Scotland. It seems likely, that with milder winters they will become an increasingly common sight.
Cheers,
Doug.

 

[Barn Owl]

We've had Little Egret on the Ayrshire coast recently which is unusual and the Great White at L.Doon last summer.
Little Egret is regular in Dumfries and Galloway now and a Cattle Egret was in the county a month or so ago.
Nuthatch is a new coloniser for our area.