Great white

I don't work on Mondays any more - hooray! This afternoon I had a wander around Leighton Moss. This great white egret was feeding in the shallow lagoon just outside the windows of the Grisedale hide. The ripples are the result of its foot paddling motion, disturbing the sediment to tease out its food items.

Twenty years or so ago, I went to see my first great white at Stiffkey in Norfolk. It was a very rare bird in Britain at that time, now they are a regular sight in wetland areas. Not as abundant as the smaller little egret, but it is not that long since that was a rare occurrence in Britain too. They are both part of the phenomenal spread north of a number of heron and bittern species.

My second blip of the evening, and this one posted on the day it was taken!