Little Egret feeding in Wells Harbour
One of our most recent pieces of
survey work on the reserve was to assist in a coast wide count of Little Egrets
at their overnight roosts sites. These small white herons with gleaming yellow
feet are now a common sight along the north Norfolk coast, particularly on the
salt marshes. Here they can be seen in shallow pools or creeks, ever on the
lookout for small fish or crustaceans to eat. This was certainly not always the
case, they were once exceptionally rare.
Standing at dawn on a cool late
September morning when the first white shapes (of a final total of 81) started
to break cover and head off from the safety off their night time woodland residence
and illuminated by the rising rays of sunlight, all my thoughts raced back to
my first ever encounter with a Little Egret. Wells school in the 1980s boasted
a thriving bird club and periodically trips would be undertaken to the various
reserves along the coast. Strangely my first ever trip out with the club was
along the coast to Cley and Salthouse to see Avocets and Black-tailed Godwits
in 1981 yet the most exciting species we encountered was a Little Egret. This
was big news at the time as a gathering of twitchers lined the coast road with
all their telescopes and binoculars pointing north into the fields at a vivid
eye catching white shape. Huddled into the reeds at a great distance it was
hardly the most inspiring of sightings, yet it certainly captured my young
imagination that all these people had actually arrived there from all corners
of the country to see what essentially looked like a white bundle of feathers. How times have
changed, nowadays most birders (and certainly not twitchers) don’t even give
these birds a second glance. So what happened in the intervening years?
Little Egrets flying to roost
In the 1980s growing numbers of
Little Egrets progressed north up the coast of France from a stronghold in more
southerly, warmer wetlands. A combination of milder winters, good breeding
seasons and an abundance of habitats combined with greater protection allowed
the species to breed in good numbers right up to the coast of Brittany. From
here greater and greater numbers began to cross the English Channel and finally
after several years of a growing wintering population the first breeding pair
colonised Brownsea Island off the Dorset coast in 1996. Ever increasing numbers
spread out across the British Isles and by 2009 over 800 pairs were found to be
nesting and a far cry from the not too distant past.
Little Egrets prefer the vast north Norfolk salt marsh system for feeding
Holkham NNR actually became very
much an integral part in the Norfolk story. Despite not recording its first
until 1988, it actually became the first place to have a wintering pair (on the
NNR’s saltmarshes at Warham/Stiffkey) and then the first breeding birds in 2002
(in a wet woodland site within the grazing marshes). From the first five pairs
in 2002 their increase was swift; by 2004 up to 42 pairs nested, making it the
county’s premier site for the species. Thanks to global warming we gained a new
resident species that had barely been given a thought of being a potential
colonist until changing times in the 1980s. Its sudden appearance and
colonisation almost matches that of the Collared Dove a couple of decades
before.
Shrimps are one of the main sources of food.
Little Egrets can be seen these
days in any spots where there is marshy ground and suitable prey can be found
although the saltmarshes and harbours still attract the lion’s share. Here the
tidal rhythms ensure that there is a plentiful food supply of crabs, shrimps
and fish. Take time to sit and watch an egret feeding and you will be enthralled
at their various methods. Sometimes a bird might be standing rigidly still,
head cocked to one side waiting for a movement below whilst another favoured
technique is foot shuffling. Then the bird moves very slowly with seemingly
only its feet quivering under the water to stir up the mud and water and
provoke movement of any potential prey. Another method sometimes seen is the
half wing cocked position when its wings are held partially aloft and spread
out, thus creating shade below. This may be as much to enable the bird to see well
as for fish to enter under a calmer place thus leaving them vulnerable for a
fatal strike from the egret’s sharp bill. Egrets are usually solitary feeders but
occasionally larger congregations may be seen when a feeding frenzy erupts with
birds chasing in every direction amidst a shoal of fish.
Part of the courtship rituals during the breeding season
Always seemingly immaculate, Little Egrets take on an even more beautiful new identity in the spring and summer
when they are breeding. Elaborate plumes grow on their crown and fine lace-like
feathers grow on their backs. These form part of highly involved social
displays and to witness such a sight instantly leaves the impression that one
of the finest rituals of any European bird has been witnessed.
Andy Bloomfield
Warden