|
|
|
|
Between
1958 and the end of 1973, about 130 Little Egrets were recorded in
Britain and a pattern of spring influxes was just beginning to emerge.
The first Cumbrian record involved a bird which wintered on the Solway
from 26th December 1973 to 16th March 1974: winter records were to prove
atypical. No more occurred in the county until 1981, when one lingered
on Border Marsh from 29th May to 4th June and another frequented the
Duddon Estuary at Dunnerholme from 26th to 28th June. The next turned up
at Carr Beds, Rockcliffe on 3rd June 1984 but then there was a gap of
six years until one appeared on the Duddon at Borwick Rails on 19th and
20th July 1990. A northward and westward expansion in both the breeding and wintering range in the 1980s led to these attractive herons establishing a regular year-round presence in increasing numbers in Britain, especially in southwest England. By the end of 1990, there had been over 700 accepted records and the species was removed from the list of those considered by the BBRC. >From 1992 onwards, Little Egrets became virtually annual in Cumbria, and by the end of 2000 there had been a total of at least 34 in the county. This does not include an extremely confiding individual in the Grune Point/Skinburness area from 30th August 1991 to February 1992, considered to be of doubtful origin due to the yellow plastic ring on its right leg. Four favoured localities have hosted the bulk of these 34 birds: the Solway has produced nine; the Duddon/Walney area seven; the Kent Estuary six and the Leven Estuary five. Just three have occurred inland (if you regard Cavendish Dock and Hodbarrow as essentially coastal sites). Most records involving single birds, and no more than two had ever been seen together until this year, when four were at Cardurnock. As
can be seen from figure 1, the majority have turned up between May and The
Little Egret is currently regarded as a rare passage migrant and winter
visitor in Cumbria, but, given the situation elsewhere in Britain,
numbers might be expected to be increasing. However, as can be seen from
figure 2, Nevertheless, having first bred in southern England in 1996, the Little Egret seems destined to establish itself and increase its range in Britain. Though there is, as yet, no indication that nesting in Cumbria is even a possibility, single pairs have attempted to breed in northwest England on two occasions in recent years, so who knows what the future will hold. Records already received suggest that 2001 is set to be a good year for Little Egrets in the county (see Recent Reports). Ian Kinley References Abraham
T. 2001. Regrets - I’ve had a few of these! North West Birding
2:15-17
|
September, with the months of May and August most favoured. Since the
very first, prior to a bird that briefly visited Humphrey Head in
December 2000, there had been just one mid-winter record, and even that,
on 13th February, might be considered as occurring at migration time for
this species. This is perhaps slightly surprising, given that 15 were
present in the region covered by ‘Birdline North West’ in December
2000 and up to six spent the 2000/01 winter in Cheshire.
since
the mid-1990s records have actually fallen to an average of just two or
three a year; indeed there was none at all in 1997.