Further to yesterdays sightings,John Rickards and myself undertook a trip round the levels for Cattle Egrets. We amassed a total of 203. 25 Ham Wall, 17 fields south of Westhay reserve, 17 just north of Peggy’s Lakes, 138 South of North Chine Drove and 6 to the north side.

Field below Mudgley this afternoon counted at least 177 in field with cattle, could well have been more but difficult to accurately count due to their constant moving.

18-Oct-2020
After a non-productive hour looking for small birds at Ham Wall we did a quick car-trawl resulting in a new best total for us of 191 Cattle Egrets: 8 Ham Wall; 10 Westhay Moor large fields, plus 72 nearby at Laurel Farm on Lewis’s Drove; 81 below Mudgley; 9 near Blakeway Farm (B3151) and 11 on east-side of Burtle.

Hi Martin, my 44 on Tealham were with cattle off Jack’s Drove (the lane that goes onto the moor below Heath House) so as per your first sighting. Your 20 from the main track on Shapwick Heath near the road bridge were probably extra to my counts, guess there must be c.200 on The Levels north of the Poldens. BTW one of the birds with cattle below Mudgley was a juvenile - all dark, blackish bill - prob same as seen at Catcott Lows by Alan Ashman in Sep.

Yesterday (12th) there was 43 Jack’s Drove, Tealham and 81 below Mudgley.

Hi Jeff, not sure of your timings but I saw 2 groups yesterday. The first were on the lane from heath house to Tealham at around 08.30 when many of them were standing on the road surface near to a flooded area. The second group were in the second field north of the south drain from Shapwick Bridge into the reserve where there were around 20 CE at 11.00. Apparently the Glossy Ibis (which has been around the levels for a week or so apparently) has been seen associating with Egrets in that area but not yesterday.

9-Oct-2020
Poor morning Ham Wall (water level too high), so Kay suggested afternoon car trawl for Cattle Egrets, resulting in my highest ever number in just 2 hrs: 27 Burtle, 30 Catcott Lows, 44 Tealham Moor & 72 Mudgley, for 173 total with no duplication between sites - all with cattle.