No rEgrets

Excuse the awful pun, but all the best bird mags seem to be doing it. I never even considered going for the Western Reef Heron in Wales earlier this year, mainly because I've seen plenty and I'm sure there will be more. But the genus Egretta has much interest, and quite a few possible taxonomic changes, among other things. It doesn't include all Egrets, several are in the genus Ardea, which also includes large herons such as Grey, but I'm not discussing them here.

The Western Reef may not have been Britain's first, but being dark phase it was easily identified. But there was the infamous "Stanpit Egret", which caused much controversy back in 1998. It looked different to accompanying Little Egrets, and was eventually recorded as a Little (or possibly hybrid). Little Egrets were not the common species they are today, it was about 1985 that I had twitched one in Devon, and they first bred in 1996.  I have tried to do some superficial research, and get the impression that no-one was prepared to submit it as a Western Reef Heron, knowledge of immature birds was incomplete, and Little seemed the "easy way out". Not that I disagree, as the evidence available then wasn't sufficient to prove it one way or the other. I've just looked out an old Birding World article (with several photos), and it definitely wasn't a Little Egret. I think it was a hybrid (not unknown), but there is nothing that says it definitely wasn't a Reef Heron. Talking of dark phase birds, which are probably dominant in Reef Herons, some literature says that Little has a dark phase. I've never knowingly seen one, although I've probably seen thousands of Littles. Reef Herons have always been controversial taxonomically, even being lumped with Little in early publications. Current thinking is that Eastern Reef Egret, now known as Pacific, is quite distinct and always has been, it is biphasic. Western Reef Egret has two subspecies, basically East and West African, also biphasic. However, there is a biphasic (sub)species which has been afforded species status by some authorities, called (imaginatively!) Dimorphic Egret. This has been "moved" to Little Egret by Avilist. (I've kept it as a good species as I'm not going all the way to Madagascar to see another b***y! Little Egret). Confused? I'll move on to all white birds.

 The other similar-looking white Egret, Snowy, has only turned up in the UK once, it really should have occurred before and since, as there are other Western Palearctic records. The 2001 bird, like the recent Reef Heron, stayed some time and was seen in several locations. But how many of us look closely enough at every Little Egret we see? The Snowy turned up in November in a remote area and was first seen by non-birders. Had Little Egrets been familiar in that area it might have remained undiscovered, but photos were sent to a birder (Bill Jackson) who had recently moved to the area. Thus began a huge twitch, but has there really not been another since? Come on you Millenial Birders! In most plumages it is easily distinguished, having yellow lores, and usually yellow(ish)  to the rear of the legs, but most people just see "another" Little Egret and don't look any further. Of course I'm doing some birders an injustice, but most of us are looking for something more interesting at the time, often waders. Ann and I went to Hong Kong in 1989, and in the general euphoria over waders we looked briefly at large  flocks of egrets, as did many others. It wasn't until the publication of their bird report we realised we'd probably overlooked a Chinese Egret (Egretta eulophotes)! Error rectified a mere 37 years later, in Thailand. They're quite obvious when you bother to look, our guide knew where there was one wintering and it didn't take long to find.

There are twelve Egretta in total, some called Egret, others Heron. One I haven't seen, the range-restricted Slaty. Six further Egrets, including White, and Eastern and Western Cattle are in the same genus as Grey Heron, the other three used to be lumped as Intermediate Egret, which means if I don't know where a photo was taken I can label it Indeterminate Egret. The only other white egret which may be of concern to UK birders is a juvenile Little Blue, as they fledge in white plumage. One record, in Ireland in 2008, was easily twitchable, but this is probably my lowest point in my twitching "career". It came during a quiet period, when I had contemplated travelling to see a Red-footed Falcon as I was bored, but decided not to. This same boredom prompted Ann and I to go for the Little Blue, although we rarely twitched Ireland. We arrived the day after it was last seen, and despite much searching the following day, a dip was recorded. On the return ferry the news broke that the Red-footed Falcon at Tophill Low, where it had been for a month but now gone, had been re-identified from photographs as an Amur! Most of the remaining Egrets are quite distinctive, and none has an all-white plumage. None is likely to turn up in the UK.