Country diary: hurrah, the cattle egrets are nesting here at last

Langstone Mill, Hampshire: Instead of moving on in the spring, some of these striking birds stayed on to breed

In February 2017, I expressed my hope that the cattle egrets overwintering around Warblington would be tempted to stay on and breed. For the past couple of years the small winter flock has dispersed in spring, the birds presumably migrating south to breeding colonies in continental Europe, but this year they lingered on well past their usual late-February departure date.

At the beginning of June five birds appeared at the Langstone Mill Pond heronry, sporting peach-coloured nuptial plumes on their backs, breasts and crowns, and two-toned bills, coral-red at the base and egg-yolk-orange at the tip. After a few days it was clear that they had begun to prospect disused little egret nests, and soon up to 10 adults had been seen in the area.

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