Re: Egrets - A survey

I don't know whether this has been done before but what is the furthest north in the UK have you seen an Egret [Little, Great or Cattle], up until 13 years ago I had never seen one in the wild  until I visited Cuckmere Valley in Sussex followed by a trip to Brownsea Island in Dorset where there were several, I live near Woodbridge in Suffolk and I could almost guarantee that if I was near water [and there is plenty of that with three river estuaries nearby!] I would find at least one. So let us find what are the most northerly sightings

This one I was within 100 yards of snapping on some water meadows

By the way the furthest north I have seem them is Titchwell RSPB in Norfolk

Most recently for me, one on the River Dee in Chester.

Lttle Egret seen here in mid N.Yorks quite often,still can't get used to them this far north and finding them is still quite exciting

I wonder if they drift as far north as The Borders/Scotland

Some two miles from where I live there are Cormorant and Egret Roost, the former over 80 and the latter up to 50 that is a Loompit Lake, Levington, Suffolk, here are three of them

I have no personal info on how far north they have been seen but I'm sure I've seen postings from people on this forum that they are seen in Scotland especially in the central belt.

You can see from this BirdTrak Atlas that this would appear to be the case.

blx1.bto.org/.../s37-20-11.html

That is interesting TJ thanks for that interesting link:-)

Little Egrets are sometimes seen at Montrose Basin up here in Angus, Scotland.  Can't remember if I've seen one in Scotland or not, I think I might have but I'm not certain!

Nice to see that they are making most of the UK their home, they are such an elegant bird

Little Egrets have been regularly seen on Campfield Marsh RSPB Reserve over the last few autumns. We are sited on the the very edge of the Solway Estuary which borders both England and Scotland.

14th September 2010 - Two of  four seen on the saltmarsh in recent days.

They seem to be another success story here in the UK which is great news,we don't seem to get enough stories like that

...............and not being introduced by anyone too! :-)

We saw seven Lt Egrets in trees today alongside the River Deben at Woodbridge where the tide was nearly maximum, this is the most I have seen locally [Suffolk] nad only surpassed by a far greater number at Brownsea Island in Dorset

Who knows, Cattle Egrets may be next. There are some already in one or two places. Maybe they wil start to colonise the UK

Yes TJ I think there is a colony in Cornwall nurtured on by a policeman, we have had them sighted rarely in Suffolk

Knee deep in Little Egrets in N. W. Wales! I love them! Counted 23 and 3 herons early last spring on the banks of the Conwy about 3 miles upstream from the Conwy Reserve.

(Incidently that train ride from which I spotted the group is the most comfortable bird watching hour you could spend - Blaenau Ffestiniog to Llandudno - much of the journey done at about 20mph!)

Jenni