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| Great White Egret |
Today at Beddington was fantastic! I arrived to meet Andrew Verrall who gave me the very exciting news that he'd had a Great White Egret on the main lake, but unfortunately it had flown off northish. I put it on the pager and tried my best to let local birders know; I thought it had probably long gone but suggested it would be worth a look at Jim's Pit on Hundred Acre. We walked up there and at first sight couldn't see it at all, then I picked the
Great White Egret tucked up in vegetation in the far corner! I couldn't believe it was still there! We watched it for some time here, waiting anxiously for others to arrive, then a worker pulled up in his truck right by the pit and got out, flushing the bird. It looked as though it were leaving, gaining height, but it decided to have another go at the main lake and suddenly plummeted down there, just as Dodge had got onto it.
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| first-winter Glaucous Gull |
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| second-winter Iceland Gull |
It remained there long enough for four other birders to connect including, critically, Johnny, who I think wanted it more than anyone else after being on North Ronaldsay when the only other GWE was present for part of one morning (I saw with that bird with minutes to spare). It was an excellent visit with lots of other good birds: I picked out an adult
Kittiwake as it dashed by; the first-winter
Glaucous Gull that I'd been praying to see put in an appearance; three
Curlews flew over; I saw three
Iceland Gulls (a first-winter and two second-winters); the
Water Rail showed well by the hide and
Green Sandpiper and
Common Snipe were noted.
The Kittiwake and the Glaucous Gull were London, Surrey, local area and Beddington ticks for me :-)
Super local birding!!!
