Great White Egrets and Population Change

 GWE PIC

A recent feature of the Carrs, a low lying floodplain, forming the eastern edge of the Vale of Pickering, has been wintering Great White Egrets over the past couple of years. The area was one of the first places locally to get regular wintering Little Egrets Egretta garzetta (upcoming post), and it seems their larger relative is following suit. A bird (or perhaps more) has once again turned up on Seamer Tip Pools this November, where it will in all likelihood spend the winter.

Great White Egret (or Great Egret) has increased significantly across lowland wetland sites in Britain over the past 20 years, top the extent that breeding is now annual in southern England, as far north as the midlands. This population increase is likely a continuation of the species expansion in Central Europe. The Netherlands in particular has seen a huge expansion and now has >2,000 wintering birds each year, as does France.

The species actually declined significantly in Europe around the end of the nineteenth central, partly through drainage of habitat for agriculture and partly through hunting for their elaborate courtship plumes, which were used in fashion at the time. A significant increase in wetland creation, and increased protection in Europe and Britain has helped reversed the decline of the species.

I remember seeing my first one at Scarborough Mere in the early 2000s, and at the time it being a relatively big deal. How times have changed, this year alone I found 4 separate birds, at York, Driffield, Bishop Aukland and Filey. It will be interesting to see how the species fortunes increase in Yorkshire over the coming years, with breeding surely not far away.

Typically a species which nests low down in reedbeds, or occasionally in low Willows Salix spp. overhanging the water. The local Grey Heron Ardea cinerea colonies are all relatively high in trees and unlikely to attract breeding Great White Egrets as they do Little Egrets. Although peripheral areas of scrub at sites like Mowthorpe (Forge Valley) may offer some limited opportunities.