Little Egret

Above and Below: Little Egret.

Little Egrets were once rare in the North West but are becoming a much more common sight. They are resident all year round although numbers tend to increase in Autumn and Winter. They are usually restricted to coastal sites around North Wales and North West England. As members of the Heron family their diet is usually fish and frogs, but on one occasion I saw one take a vole flushed out by a particularly high tide at Point of Ayr, Wales.

As for identification, they are pretty easy, having completely white plumage, black legs and bill and yellow feet (although the latter are not always easy to see). They also have some attractive long plumes on the back of the head and breast. There are no similar heron type birds in the north west apart from a very rare visit by a Great White Egret, which is massive in comparison. Cattle Egrets also turn up in the UK (not sure if there are any reports in the North West) but they tend to be found in different habitat and have a yellowing/buff wash to the plumage not found in the little egret. Usually, any small white heron in the north west is more than likely to be a little egret.

There are a number of sites where they can be found with varying degrees of reliability. They are occasional visitors to Conway, RSPB site and when they do turn up here, they may present a good photo opportunity. They can usually be found regularly at Parkgate and Burton Marshes on the Dee side of the Wirral peninsular. However, photo opportunities are not easy here as the salt marsh is large, the birds are not usually close and there is no hide or cover. The best place has to be The Spinnies nature reserve at Aberogwen, North Wales. Little Egrets can almost always be found in significant numbers here and with patience they usually show well on the landward side of the double hide that overlooks the estuary on one side and a large pool on the landward side. On my visits to this site, little egrets have always been present and close enough to photograph reasonably well. They also present some good aerial photo opportunities as they drop in on the pool edge with the trees behind them.