# wading bird ID?



## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

whilst on the bus yesterday i saw 2 wading birds in benfleet creek while the bus was parked at the adjacent bus stop. they were white, had long s-shaped necks, long pointed beaks & long thin legs, and walked with heads jerking back & forth. they were, i'd guess, about 15'' tall. when they flapped their wings, the wings had squared-off tips. any ideas what they were? they stood out cos they were the only ones of their kind in the creek- all the other birds were terns and gulls. couldn't get a pic as my camera phone's battery was dead! they put me in mind of herons in their general appearance, but were much smaller, the wrong colour, & benfleet creek is marine. could they be little egrets?


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## laurencea (Aug 28, 2009)

sounds like it, they are basically white herons.


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

laurencea said:


> sounds like it, they are basically white herons.


yeah, the online pics seem to match the appearance of the 2 i saw. never seen them before, & i didn't know any heron species were marine.


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## Iulia (Mar 2, 2011)

thinks Little Egrets are on the increase in the UK - and can be found on some coasts?


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Iulia said:


> thinks Little Egrets are on the increase in the UK - and can be found on some coasts?


so i've read after yahooing them. looks like that's what they were. plus, they're found on the south east coast, & nothing else matches their appearance.


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## Iulia (Mar 2, 2011)

they are lovely birds - saw them a lot on the Danube Delta


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

I've seen loads of herons standing in sea bays all over the north and Scottish coast.

Egrets are very rare up here. My friend saw one in the river on their farm about 10 mile north of here and reported it to the RSPB. Within that day their farm was crawling with "twitchers" coming to have a look at it.


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## MrJsk (Jul 29, 2012)

You may find this website useful in the future..

Birds Section - UK Safari


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