Regular breeders from now on?

A good number of Black winged Stilts have bred in the UK this summer. This Mediterranean species is of course more at home further south; but in what is probably a climatic change indicator several pairs have nested around the UK in Cambridgeshire, Kent and Norfolk yielding a total of thirteen fledglings. The Norfolk pair have successfully reared four young on the Norfolk broads and we’ve been out to see them on several tours. The adults are quite defensive and protect their offspring from marauding gulls by flying up and seeing off any interlopers.

Breeders?

The first recorded occurrence of Great White Egret in Norfolk was in 1979. Since then they have been regular visitors. On a tour this week we came across three together and another was reported less than a mile away. Do you think breeding is on the cards this year? I’ll be surprised if it’s not.

Moving North

Last month Natural England confirmed that Great White Egrets have bred in Somerset this year. This is the first time the species has bred in the UK.

This mainland European species has been seen with increasing regularity in the UK during recent years. It is only in the last 20 years Great White Egrets hae fully colonised the Camargue in southern France where they are now regular and the photograph below was taken.

The species is known to return to the same nest site year upon year and it hoped that the pair at Avalon Marsh will be the forerunners of a new British colony. The female of the pair was ringed as a nestling in France and visited Lancashire, Wales and Gloucestershire before settling on the Somerset Levels as her home.

Yet another heron has joined others as a breeding species indicating global warming is pushing the species contour farther north.