This is a view of RSPB Lodmoor from the footpath that runs along the western edge of the reserve. With areas of open water and hidden pools, lush reedbeds and swathes of saltmarsh, it’s a wetland paradise for birds and, as well as having a resident population of water fowl, the fact that the reserve is right on the coast means that it’s also a mecca for migrating birds, and sightings of rarities are relatively frequent.

I’ll share more of Lodmoor’s birds in another post but today want to focus on the egrets. They are members of the Heron family and share Lodmoor with their Grey heron (Ardea cinerea) cousins, though not always harmoniously – I saw a couple of spats between the herons and egrets during my visits. There is a resident population of Little egrets (Egretta garzetta), which only arrived in numbers in the UK in 1989 and first bred somewhere in Dorset in 1996, per the RSPB website, but are now quite common in southern Britain. The photo below shows a Grey heron, a Great white egret and two Little egrets.

I saw my first Great white egret (Ardea alba) of the year during my visit to Lodmoor in June but it was moving around the edge of a distant, inaccessible pool, so I didn’t get a good look at it. This time, there were several Great whites around the reserve and, as you might guess from the photo below, I had my closest ever views of this handsome bird as it stalked around a pool, hoping to spear a fish or two.

While it was wonderful to enjoy such good sightings of the Great white egrets, the egret highlight of this trip came during my second visit to Lodmoor, and only happened because I got chatting to some other birders. One of them was convinced she had seen a Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) but it had subsequently disappeared behind the tall reeds. Luckily for me, within minutes the bird popped up again. Below, you can see two Great white egrets and the much smaller Cattle egret, with two Grey herons off to the right.

Like the Little egret, the Cattle egret is a recent migrant to Britain that has made itself at home. It was first recorded breeding here in 2008, and its population is expanding ever northwards from its initial strongholds in southern Britain. This particular Cattle egret remained distant and soon vanished again into the reed beds but it was a delight to have seen so many members of the heron family together.