There's been several
Cattle Egrets at
Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB for a
while now, I think six is the maximum count. I visited the reserve this
afternoon with old friend Mark Wotham.
The
Cattle Egrets were on view from the Reception area, a few in the traditional pose of perching on top of cattle. One bird was a bit closer off to the left of the main scrape/lagoon. Good views of this bird until it flew back to area behind the lagoon where the other
Egrets were with the cattle. We only managed to see four birds for certain & that was only because three were atop cattle & another flew up in the same area.
Lots of other birds about, mainly
Teal with some
Wigeon on the main pool as well as
Black-tailed Godwits,
Little Egrets of course, several
Whooper Swans mixed in with
Mute Swans in the distant fields towards Shotwick Lake, skeins of hundreds of
Pink-footed Geese flying out to the estuary marshes. As we made our way along the boardwalk several flocks of mixed passerines including
Long-tailed Tits,
Nuthatch &
Greater Spotted Woodpecker.
As we continued along the path towards Inner Marsh Farm Hide there were a couple of birders peering into the bushes where a roosting
Long-eared Owl has been seen recently. After some hard looking I managed to pick out the bird deep in the bush, only really having a view of part of it through a small gap!
Just about in the centre of the photo. The light was going by this time, although the photo makes it looks lighter. Loads of
Starlings were coming into roost in the reedbed as we made our way back along the boardwalk, to the sound of a screeching
Water Rail, with the light rapidly failing.
