I arrived in the Greatham Bridge area but wasn’t sure whether I was in exactly the right place. Just like when I first saw a Cattle Egret in Britain in Worcestershire in 1993 I stumbled on it almost by accident. I passed an open gate on my right and there stood the small white Egret perched on top of a small haystack.
When I got out of the car it flew down into the grassy field and began to feed actively often disappearing out of view beyond a ridge in the field. On one occasion it flew up onto a drinking trough allowing more sketches before flying across the road and landing even closer.
In the weak winter sunlight the pink/orange flush to the crown, chest and mantle were obvious and confirmed the bird as an adult.
Patch Birding 