Hi & Great White Egret (1 Viewer)

[PaulfromHeanor]

I have just signed up to this Forum as my wife and I have just seen what we think is a Great White Egret in our Garden, near our fishpond!

We have read about the Great White Egret on the Internet but and it seems a little unusual for it to be here, we live near Derby.

Has anyone else seen on in the UK?

 

[KC Foggin]

Hi there Paul and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum :t:

We're glad you found us and thanks for taking a moment to say hello. Please join in wherever you like

 

[delia todd]

Hi Paul and a warm welcome from me too.

Great Egrets have been visiting the UK for some years now and began breeding in a few years ago. You can read more about them here in our Opus article.

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I hope to hear about all the birds you see when out and about.

 

[Kits]

Welcome to Birdforum! I am sure that you will find lots to interest you here and I hope that you enjoy your visits.

 

[IDidiot]

I have just signed up to this Forum as my wife and I have just seen what we think is a Great White Egret in our Garden, near our fishpond!

We have read about the Great White Egret on the Internet but and it seems a little unusual for it to be here, we live near Derby.

Has anyone else seen on in the UK?

Hi Paul,

I'm in Florida and they are a common bird here. I went to https://www.heronconservation.org/herons-of-the-world/list-of-herons/great-egret/ and it seems that the Great Egret Ardea alba would be quite rare in the UK. When I looked for similar birds though through Cornell's All About Birds I get the following as similar: Snowy Egret Egretta thula, Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis, Reddish Egret (adult non breeding white morph) Egretta rufescens, and Little Blue Heron (white juvenile) Egretta caerulea - they all seem even less likely to be in the UK than Great Egrets. Do you have a picture?

Sandy

 

[IDidiot]

Hi Paul and a warm welcome from me too.

Great Egrets have been visiting the UK for some years now and began breeding in a few years ago. You can read more about them here in our Opus article.

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I hope to hear about all the birds you see when out and about.

Interesting article! Thanks.

 

[Deb Burhinus]

Hi Paul

Welcome to Birdforum!

It could have been a Great Egret, there was one at Uttoxeter Quarry this afternoon, not too far from Derby, according to the bird news alerts. As Delia says, they are a regular breeding bird now in the UK.

A GWE is nearly the size of a Grey Heron - did you remember the bill and leg colour?

The other possibility is Little Egret which are much smaller or Cattle Egret which are similarly small (although the latter are much more scarce and more often seen near the coast)

 

[mummymonkey]

Another possibility is a leucistic grey heron. grey herons frequently visit garden ponds.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Hi Paul and welcome to BirdForum.

Rich

 

[Fritz73]

Hola Paul! Welcome to Birdforum