Thursday 13 December 2018

Great White Egret....finally.....












After not being able to track down the wandering Great White Egret in recent weeks I thought I'd try Abbots Salford on Saturday as I'd noticed on BirdTrack the bird had been reported there.  My hunch proved correct as I found the Egret feeding in front of the reeds on the hide side of the pools. The bird seemed very comfortable in the company of the local herons, 16 recorded. Other birds present were 3 Great Crested Grebe, 3 Goosander flying over,  & a Green Sandpiper. After getting some excellent views I headed back to Salford Priors where it was very quiet except  for 4 Wigeon, 11 Pochard, 22 Shoveler,  a Shelduck briefly, Grey Wagtail, 4 Siskin, 4 Lapwing, 6 Goldcrest, 2 Raven and a Sparrowhawk.

On Sunday Jon discovered a Great White Egret on the main pit late morning, so could this have been the same bird ? As I was getting ready to head down, Francis text to say he had two at Abbots Salford ! The car went a little faster down the lanes and it was great to see both birds on the same pool. We both checked Salford Priors but there wasn't any sign. Just the two Great White Egrets in the area.

Jon's count included :- 7 Little Grebe, 10 Bormorant, 4 Grey Heron, 17 Mute Swan, 485 Greylag, 615 Canada Geese, 18 Gadwall, 134 teal, 420 Mallard, 23 Shoveler, 13 Pochard, 56 Tufted Duck, 137 Coot, 38 Lapwing, 2 Snipe, 2 Green Sandpiper (Pophills), 100 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 35 Herring Gulls, 1 injured second winter Common Gull, 900 Wood Pigeon, 29 Meadow Pipits, 20 Skylark, 250 Fieldfare, 200 Redwing, 3 Jay, 2 Raven and 15 Siskin.

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