A few days exploring the reed beds, with Herons, Egrets and Bitterns

The Bittern is seldom seen, as it lives deep in the base of the reed beds and rarely takes flight!

I recently spent 3 months back in the UK, but on this occasion, it was not a wildlife photography trip. Sadly, a close family member was involved in very severe road traffic accident and had suffered terrible injuries, from which, I am glad to say, they are now recovering......In fact, although I always take my camera gear with me, I was not anticipating being able to use it at all!

Fortunately, although many days were spent travelling to and from a major London hospital, I did manage to spend a few days at one of my favourite bird locations and was treated to some wonderful views of some members of the Ardeidae (Heron) family.  These days were especially therapeutic under the circumstances and the power of spending time within nature, enabled me to reduce stress levels, keep things in perspective and remain grounded.

Before I moved to France (almost twenty years ago), Little Egrets, Cattle Egrets and Great White Egrets were rarely seen in the UK and considered 'exotic' birds that were only seen when they took a wrong turn on their migration and were 'lost'!  Nowadays and as a direct result of 'global warming', they are a more common sight along the coastline of Kent and even further north.

The Bittern and Herons however, have always been part of the local bird life and although Herons are regularly seen, the Bittern is a very elusive bird that is only found within large reed beds and seldom seen.

The remainder of this blog, is very 'picture heavy', which is a reflection of my eagerness to capture these images and indicates my pleasure of spending time with these wonderful birds......I hope you enjoy looking at them!

None of these images are in any kind of order, but I wll deal with each type separately, starting with:

Herons

Grey Herons are unmistakeable. - Tall, with long legs, a long beak and grey, black and white feathering. They eat lots of fish, but also small birds such as ducklings, small mammals like voles and amphibians. 

Little Egrets

The Little Egret is a small white heron with attractive white plumes on crest, back and chest, black legs and bill and yellow feet. It first appeared in the UK in significant numbers around the millenium. Its arrival followed naturally from a range expansion into western and northern France in previous decades. It is now at home on numerous south coast sites, both as a breeding species and as a winter visitor.

Great White Egret

The Great White Egret is a large, white heron. Great White Egrets can look similar to Little Egrets, but they are much larger; the same size as the familiar Grey Heron. Other identification features to look out for include black feet (not yellow), yellow beak and a different fishing technique, more like that of the Grey Heron.

Bittern

The Bittern is a thickset heron with pale, buff-brown plumage covered with dark streaks and bars. It flies on broad, rounded, bowed wings. A secretive bird, very difficult to see, as it moves silently through reeds at water's edge, looking for fish. The males make a remarkable far-carrying, booming sound in spring. It's very small, reedbed-dependent population make it an Amber List species. It is also a Schedule 1 species, meaning it's illegal to intentionally recklessly disturb them.

I hope that you have enjoyed looking at my images, as much as I did taking them.......my next blog (coming soon), will cover some of the 'Raptor's that also call these marshes home.

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