little egret

[saffron]

just had to tell someone i saw a Little Egret in the river dour in the town of Dover in Kent. there is no mistaking it was anything else i just wish i had had my camera with me so i could of shared this lovely sighting with you, could any of you bird lovers tell me is this an unusual sighting?

[Mark43]

Lucky you

Not enough of an expert (yet) to know if it's unusual or not but i would have certainly liked to have seen it with you..............yet another bird i have never seen.

[Turtletagger]

Hi Saffron. I emegrated to Australia in 1966 and returned to England in Jan 2003. In Australia I was quite familiar with the white Egrets there but when I saw up to thirty on the Marsh at the River Dee in Cheshire I was realy mind blown, I never expected to see those birds in England. The greatest total so far that I have seen since was seventy nine of them going to roost at the RSPB sanctuary at Inner-marsh Farm. They are now a common sight throughout the country now, so I believe. Before I left for Australia there were no Collared Doves in the country nor Blackcap Warblers overstaying our winters. Things are changing. You down south will be seeing many other species before I do up here in the Midlands. Happy spotting.

[John]

Tanny is quite right regarding the spread of Little Egret. I have had them as far away as Scotland. The south Coast (especially SW across towards the East) is their stronghold. There is a very large colony at Brownsea Island, near Poole, Dorset.

Tanny is slightly incorrect on the Collared Dove. They actually arrived in the late 50's (57 I think) at Overstrand in Norfolk and have stayed (and obviously populated) ever since.

[saffron]

thankyou for your replys, it turns out that the local rag thought the arrival of the pair of little egrets to our local river was worth a nice large picture and a small write up in last weeks edition. i think a phone camera is a good idea so you always can take a photo if you see something unsual. i was unfortunatley on my own when i spotted it, so much nicer when you can share wonders like that. :-)