Derbyshire Cattle Egret!!

According to The Birds of Derbyshire, Cattle Egret is a "very rare vagrant" in the county, with just 7 previous records in 1966, 1968, 1986, 1996, 2009 (2 records of possibly the same bird), and 2014. Scrolling through Birdguides this afternoon, I noted that one had been reported at Poolsbrook Marsh, Staveley, so, as soon as possible Jayne and I had a drive over to see the bird.

We dropped lucky, with the bird still being present on the edge of the reedbed, and managed some good, if somewhat distant, views.

Cattle Egret

The bird stayed on the edge of the reeds for about 15 minutes before flying up into a dead tree, where I got this shot.

Cattle Egret

It looked as if it would roost there, but a report came through that it had flown off "high to the north". Hopefully, it'll turn up again somewhere in the county. An excellent Year, British and County tick!

Year List update:

120 - Sand Martin (1 on 2nd at Avenue Washlands)

121 - CATTLE EGRET