Great White

A fine Great White Egret has been present at Wheldrake Ings for a week now, having strode out of thin air the morning after the evening I visited looking for waders.

Now I reckon even I would have noticed this giant white heron...I spent a few days at Birdfair adding Two-barred Crossbill to my Yorkshire list on the way down, at Broomhead Reservoir near Sheffield but in the back on my mind was this big Wheldrake bird that I was convinced would clear off before I got chance to look for it.

Anyway, the bird settled into a routine of showing on the Pool first thing before heading off elsewhere. First day back and despite being shattered I got up early and headed out before work. I headed down to the Pool Hide with trepidation and as I entered along the recently restored foot bridge, I immediately saw a giant white apparation standing in the middle of the pool. Fab! The egret showed nicely on 19th August and was still there when I left at 8am.

I went back on 22nd to see if more waders had come in. It was a beautiful misty morning that cleared to be a beautiful sunny, still day. The egret seems to favour the Pool area between 7am and 8am before heading off into an unseen part of the valley. It occasionally hangs out for longer however. A few waders present; several Green Sands, Greenshank (here and Hes East), a few Ruff and Snipe. A Marsh Harrier flew past today and a couple of Willow Tits are wheezing about in the riverside willows. No sign of any Two-barred or Common Crossbills in Allerthorpe Common, but the butterflies including c20 Small Coppers were awesome. A great show of c100 Common Blues at the west end of Hes East earlier too.