Lee Harrison's Nature Photography.: Little Egret

Well it's not quite the same as the Great White Egret that I spotted over at Southport last Thursday but still a wonderful bird... I had to get that in as I was the first one to see it lol...

Yes that's right the Little Egret, such a wonderful bird to have in this country, I remember about 10 year ago if not more I was at Fairhaven Lake with my family and a Little Egret had turned up at Freckleton Marsh and this was considered a BIG tick and many people when to see it. That was my first encounter and now I can't go out the sea side reserves without seen one.

This memory excites me a lot because of how quick they have inhabited our country. When I think back, not just over my life time but even further, I see other examples of this, a bird that we all take for advantage and is breathtakingly beautiful, if you just stop and look at it, the Collared Dove, there everywhere and most people get sick of them but this bird only came into Britain in the 1950s and now you see them every day. The Avocet I have seen this change in the last 20 years if not 10, they have spread more that anyone could have expected, 40 year ago you had to get a boat out to a remote island off Norfolk to have a chance of seen them but now we can just wait for this gorgeous bird to come to us.

This excites me because I want to know what's next, my prediction would be the Spoonbill, not common just yet but sighting are getting easier every year, last year building false nests, I'm not sure but they could have nested this year, and what's after that the Cattle Egret maybe, possibly even the Great White and then what I can't wait to find out, maybe some of the smaller birds a Greenish or Yellow browed Warbler, Gulls, Harriers... Who Knows?

The history of birds is so exciting but the future is something else...

Right I'll eventually get to some pictures... I hope that you like them after all that:-

This is an area that I am very interested in. I hope that you had time to read the above, as I would be very interested to hear your opinions on what birds you think might come next or if you have any examples of birds that have inhabited this country,

So please let me know what your thoughts are by clicking comments under this post and leaving your ideas,

Thanks Always Lee Harrison.

A beautiful Morning on Wednesday, sun shining, birds singing all looks good in life, I had an early start and dragged myself out from under my duvet at 6am, in hope of catching up with a Ross's Gull at Lytham that I heard about the day before, but no luck there unfortunately.

I spent a few hours just watching the waders been pushed up the beach and around Fairhaven lake, in hope that the gull might reappear on the in coming tide but NO... Plenty of waders round about, Knot, Sandling, Dunlin, Redshank, Curlew, Grey Plover, Oyster Catcher, Black Tailed Godwits and a single Bar tailed Godwit which was nice to see because is was my first in a while; plenty of Black headed and Common Gulls wandering around with the odd Greater Black Back Cruising over to see if any snacks had there backs turned.

Bar Tailed Godwit

Oyster Catcher

Curlew

Once i had finished at Lytham and finally convinced myself that the Ross's Gull wasn't going to return, I sulked off to the usual turf of Marshide, as i headed down Marine Drive, the clouds set in and the winds picked up but i continued on to see what was around; as always plenty of Avocets around, Ruff, Dunlin and all the other regulars that you would expect, Meadow Pipits struggling to stay in one place but still sing the little hearts out in the wind, I had a good scan through the Dunlin but they were a bit to far away to see if the Little Stint was still there, Even though it was quite quiet around i managed to get a few nice pics around the hides as the sun drifted in and out.