Great White Egret!

So, I'd just finished doing bird counts for the morning at the British Steel hide, and as I was about to leave, I heard the shout, "Great Egret!" I looked out over the marsh and sure enough, a Great White Egret was flying low over the water being chased by a Heron! It landed briefly in a ditch before flying off towards the saltmarsh the other side of the saline lagoon. This was my first Great White Egret that I've seen in Britain, so it was quite an exciting time for me. I just about managed to get some photos, however the light was poor, as were my composure levels, so they're not great.

Great White Egret

A juvenile Little Stint was present, as were two Curlew Sandpipers and three Spotted Redshank (there were four on Sunday). Other counts include 47 Greenshank, 222 Redshank, 203 Knot, 754 Black-tailed Godwit, four Bar-tailed Godwit and 93 Dunlin.

The rest of the day was spent clearing willow from the Swan's Nest Maze that we'd cut previously with help from a group of volunteers from HSBC.

Big swan eggs!

Hopefully it'll grow back nice and thick next year!

While we worked, we had company from some very lethargic Migrant Hawkers which amazingly I was able to pick up by their wings while they were still perched!

Check out the length of those anal appendages!

Note the yellow 'golf tee' on S2