Little Egret at Falmer Pond

By Words | Published April 8, 2011

I stopped by Falmer pond today. No sign at all of the ducklings in the morning, or at lunchtime. 🙁 In fact the pond itself was rather quiet. A few gulls were congregating, and at lunchtime the ducks were dabbling gently in the warm sunshine.

A moorhen was idly pecking at edge of the water.

And by an adjacent path, orange tip butterflies were skipping among the nettles.

All nice moments, but the sighting of the day had been several hours earlier at around 8.20 in the morning. I'd walked around the pond and was just getting ready to leave when a movement overhead caught my eye.

A little egret. I normally see these at Rottingdean, and this was the first one I've seen away from the shoreline. It circled the pond several times, a truly obliging subject!

And then it headed for the trees!

It didn't stay perched there for long, but a perfect start to a beautiful spring day.
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Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.

This entry was posted in water birds and tagged , , , .

16 Comments

  1. Ukwildlife April 8, 2011 at 11:04 pm #

    Nice photos.

    Egrets are always a bonus, even if they are getting common here in the South 🙂

  2. Words April 9, 2011 at 12:04 am #

    Neil, I do seem to be seeing more of them, but as you say they're always a treat. 🙂

  3. cakkleberrylane April 9, 2011 at 1:04 am #

    All great shots, especially the egret. They are such beautiful and magestic birds!

  4. RobinL April 9, 2011 at 1:04 am #

    Words, great shots. What a wonderful bird

  5. gdare April 9, 2011 at 5:04 am #

    Ducklings are hiding from a strange man following them every day :left:

    😀

  6. Words April 9, 2011 at 10:04 pm #

    Erwin, thanks!

  7. Words April 9, 2011 at 10:04 pm #

    Lois, they're fabulous to watch, and this one was just circling around. Beautiful to see.

  8. Words April 9, 2011 at 10:04 pm #

    Robin, thanks. It always seems incongruous to see such exotic birds locally. Nice though 🙂

  9. Words April 9, 2011 at 10:04 pm #

    Darko, I wish that were the case, but I fear the worst 🙁

  10. gdare April 10, 2011 at 7:04 am #

    You think they died? :left:

  11. gonzalotravieso April 10, 2011 at 2:04 pm #

    Great photos, specially the one with the butterfly.

  12. Words April 11, 2011 at 12:04 am #

    Gonzalo, thanks!

  13. Words April 11, 2011 at 12:04 am #

    Darko, died or eaten :yikes:

  14. SittingFox April 11, 2011 at 12:04 pm #

    There seems something other-worldly about egrets – they're such a pure white, and I'm still startled to see them in the UK even though they're now permanent features of the landscape :right:

  15. Words April 12, 2011 at 9:04 pm #

    Adele, I hadn't realized just how recent newcomers egrets were. The first breeding pair was as recent as 1996 according to the RSPB and they report well under 200 breeding pairs. Lovely to see though… so white it's startling.

  16. Wulpen October 19, 2012 at 8:10 pm #

    Very Nice photos