18 October 2022 - Hollingworth Lake

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Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Kingfisher, Redwings

When I woke up this morning there was a clear blue sky but it had started to cloud over by the time I'd set off for the lake. There wasn't much around until I reached the far side and was scanning over the reserve when I spotted two Egrets flying left to right over the far bank, near the road. They circled round and headed back in the direction of Ealees Valley, and I was able to snatch a few shots before they disappeared behind the trees. Hoping to see them again from the hide, I was distracted by the Kingfisher which was showing quite well again, and although I couldn't see any Egrets from inside the hide, I was hopeful they may have landed somewhere visible. The mist then started to descend and eventually I had to leave and get back to work. Scanning the reserve from the Pavilion area didn't reveal any further sign, and shortly after it became quite foggy, so very little else was seen apart from a handful of Redwings.

At the time, I presumed these were the same birds that I'd seen on 26 September performing a very similar routine, but late in the evening when I came to look at the photos, I realised one of them appeared to be a Cattle Egret! Below are some rather poorly-exposed pictures of both birds together and some zoomed-in close-ups that I believe are still pretty diagnostic.

Some Kingfisher photos are included too.

Egrets, 1/2000 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 1250

Egrets , 1/2000 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 1250

Presumed Cattle Egret

Kingfisher , 1/500 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 6400 (view full size image)

Kingfisher, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 5000 (view full size image)