Dutch little egrets

This is a little egret video from Brazil.

According to Dutch nature reserve warden Mark Hoekstein yesterday, there were 72 little egrets on the Middelplaten sleeping roost. That is the biggest group of those birds on that place ever.

In 2008, 175 little egret couples nested in the Netherlands. Because of a harsh winter, this went down to 110 in 2009. As the 2009-2010 winter was harsh again, probably the number went down again in the 2010 nesting season. Definite numbers for 2010 are not yet known.

As ringing Little Egrets in the UK is a relatively new phenomenon and we are finding out all sorts of new information about their demography. We previously reported a report of a Little Egret going south to Pasaxe de Pedrido, Galicia in Spain at the start of last year but the record has now been smashed: here.