Since my return to the UK and after recovering from the inevitable jet lag, I have been keeping a very close eye on my brook. I have had several sessions at various times of the day to try and get some shots, and a good look at my Kingfisher. But, in spite of a view on Tuesday he has unfortunately been a little bit reluctant to appear. I am confidant that he is Ok and given a bit of luck and of course a degree of perseverance, he will eventually be there for me. With the days now being very long it is not as easy to predict his fishing patterns. The other day I watched him hovering for around 10 seconds and that was enough to wet my appetite because had he have been closer to me and doing that, well, can you imagine the pictures?

There has been a few things to keep me occupied though. Mainly Little Egrets. When I say Egrets, I mean a pair, both male and female. The male is really obvious, he has very long plumed feathers on his head as you can see.

The Little Egret - Egretta Garzetta of Europe and the UK is replaced in the the New World by the Snowy Egret – Egretta thula. I took a few nice pictures of that species in the US during my recent visit and I thought it would be good to compare them. Size wise they are very similar. They share several common other features. Plumes of course as we have already mentioned. Foot colour also,  bright yellow in both species with contrasting black legs. The Snowy Egret though is much brighter around the face and more intensely yellow………. I am making no comment about the American version being more flamboyant(or perhaps I already have). Any way here is a comparison (Snowy on the left).

The Yellow on the legs of the Snowy on the left is an indication of this birds age, apparently a first year juvenile. 

It has been a bit of a quest to get a photo of a Little  Egret here at home with prey. Yesterday I did achieve that with this nice picture.