A well-travelled Great White Egret

 

This handsome fellow is a Great White Egret, one of a pair I watched at the Goldcliff Reserve (Newport) on Friday June 9th. What stood out about this one was a red colour ring on the lower left leg with the letters ABP. I put the picture on my Twitter page (@ecology_cymru) and was pleased to receive a quick reply, and it seems this individual has done a fair bit of travelling already.

It was ringed at Ham Wall in Somerset - https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/ham-wall/ on 29th April 2022, and since then, recovery records have shown it to have visited North Yorkshire, Lothian, Northumberland, back to Wales (Powys), then up to Doncaster, and as of only four days before I seen it, in Derbyshire. Now that is not bad going for a bird barely two years old.

 ABP ringed as a chick at Ham Wall Nature Reserve (picture                                  courtesy of the RSPB ringing project)

I was also pleased to receive an email from Alison Morgan of the RSPB, who provided me with a link to this project along with the 2022 report -         https://www.alisonmorgan.co.uk/Birds/AMNC%20Report%202022.pdf  

What amazed me when I looked at the link was not just the amount of interesting information, but an overview of the heron species frequenting the Ham Wall reserve and Avalon Marshes (see the overview from their website below):

OVERVIEW Great White Egret : Continued expansion this year, with at least 43 nests in 7 locations across the Avalon Marshes. 35 of these nests were successful, with 67 young fledged, 14 of which were colour ringed. Cattle Egrets are seen in increasing numbers, with groups of several hundred birds regularly reported at roosts. The only confirmed breeding colony was at Swell Wood, with at least 6 nests. Little Bittern : Present on RSPB Ham Wall, with reports of a barking male on 6 days in late May / early June. No evidence of breeding this year. Night Heron : No records this year. Purple Heron remains a potential colonising species; single birds were seen during April and May Glossy Ibis : Reported from January to October at various locations across the Avalon Marshes, with up to 7 being seen at once. Baillon’s crake : not one of the six heron/egret species which are the usual subject of this report, but this year there were records of both a male and a female Baillon’s crake on RSPB West Sedgemoor. 

But the good news does not stop there, there is a talk coming up highlighting the Great White Egret ringing project and the status of the heron species to be found at the Avalon Marshes and Ham Wall. This will be on Wednesday 15th November 2023, 7.30 - 9.30, at Chepstow leisure centre NP16 5LR, entry at the door £3. Hope to see some of you there.