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| Welcome to this article featuring information on the whereabouts of an exciting invasion into Cornwall of the mediterranean version of our now common Little Egret - the Cattle Egret. |
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| Cattle Egrets - Nov 2007 influx into the Falmouth area and where to search. |
| The view along the Penryn river is shown above where on the 21st and 22nd November 2 Cattle Egrets have been reported flying up river at about 7.30am. These two birds are part of a larger influx into the county of Cornwall involving perhaps 6 or more birds, 3 of which have been around the Falmouth area. The other bird in the area was seen near Carnon Downs north of the Carnon Downs to Come-to-good road in the valley fields there. This bird wasn't seen beyond mid morning and extensive searching for the rest of the day didn't reveal its prescence sadly. The Falmouth area has a lot of Pastoral farmland with sheep and cow fields in many locations providing possible sites for this rare visitor during this invasion of sorts. The best advice is to check any cow field you come across but be aware that cow fields are not strictly necessary for Cattle Egrets which can sometimes be seen feeding and indeed perching on sheep! |
| Cattle Egret - Morocco (04/2007) |
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| Cattle Egrets are rare in the UK with normally a few records annually but recent years has seen numbers rise. The similar Little Egret is a confusion species which has a longer neck than Cattle Egret and an all dark bill. The thick yellow bill of Cattle Egret can be suprisingly hard to notice so close checks of all Little Egrets might help you strike lucky. Below is a map showing the locations of the Cattle Egrets seen around Falmouth (marked with a yellow blip) and some possible locations of the same or more birds (marked in blue). If you happen to find one in the area please send you sightings to henerz1 AT(@) yahoo.co.uk |
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