Egrets and Spoonbills at Abberton

2nd July 2023

Two pairs of Spoonbills have been breeding at Abberton this year and have now been joined by a few pairs of Cattle Egrets so off to see how they are getting on. Not much egret or Spoonbill activity when we arrived so we were entertained by the supporting acts of Common Terns and a rather smart male Kestrel that was hunting over the causeway banks.

A nice surprise was an early returning Common Sandpiper that was certainly more cooperative than some.

Little Egrets are numerous at Abberton and have been breeding there for several years and now dominate the heronry at the north-west end of Layer Breton causeway.

They are quite early breeders so now have flying young which all enjoy a good squabble!!!

Great White Egrets arrived some 10 years ago and can be quite plentiful at Abberton with up to 12 being common-place during the day and 30+ at roost during the winter months. However during the summer their numbers are significantly reduced and today there were just two. As far as I am aware they have never bred, One bird had an all-yellow bill which is normally associated with non-breeding birds.................

..................while the second bird had a bill that was transitioning from breeding black to winter yellow.

Here it is in flight.

No Cattle Egret nests were visible but it was possible at times to see individual birds perched on the edge of the willows.

There were several flights but never close to the causeway and generally just from one section of trees to another. Here is one carrying a twig for the nest.

They are quite ungainly when they land.

I eventually managed to get a distant shot of two birds flying into the heronry.

The situation with the Spoonbills is a bit of a mystery. They have been nesting for several weeks now and I was expecting to see young in the nest. It is difficult to see into the nest because of all the foliage and the female seemed to be sitting on the nest some of the time, but at times it was also possible to see both birds standing by the nest. No sign of any young.

Even more surprising was that during our stay from 9.30am - 3.00pm we didn't see a single flight to or fom the nest amd on only one occasion did a single bird appear over by the islands being joined by a Little Egret. Let's hope they will be successful.

PS: Since our visit young have been seen in the nest.