Little Egrets at Wanstead Park
Following a visit to the Heronry Pond in Wanstead Park of a Little Egret on 9th July 2009 and on subsequent days, a number of people including Jennifer Charter and Kathy Hartnett reported seeing two of these birds on on 20th July.
They were apparently making use of the low water-levels in the lake as it was being drained for some concreting work to take place at the eastern end. As water levels dropped, numerous small fish and other creatures would have been easy prey for Egrets. It is amusing to watch them agitate the water with a foot (often a bright yellow foot!) to stir up creatures that they might find tasty. Quite tolerant of man and dog, they are easy to view either perched in a tree or feeding in the water.
These very attractive almost pure-white small herons are birds of the Mediterranean and North African area, who not long ago were rare visitors to Britain. Increasingly over the years they have visited the south coasts, eventually breeding and spreading northwards. Now they are a common sight on the Essex coast, and have occasionally been seen as short-stay visitors to our area.
Either one or two Little Egrets became a common sight over the next week or so, but on 3rd August, seven birds were present, making a quite spectacular sight as the either fed together, perched in trees or particularly when they all took flight at the same time.
A nice addition to our species, they don't seem to have any serious adverse effects on our present wildlife.
Paul Ferris, July 2009