Cattle Egret at Udimore
20th April 2008, Sunday
A Cattle Egret was feeding among the many sheep and lambs just SW of Watlands this morning. Later it flew across Dumb Woman’s Lane and was last seen among sheep on the slopes below Farthing Wood. It’s very wary (apologies for terrible photo) and prefers to fly rather than walk as it has a limp. The species seems to be following the Little Egret in colonising southern England from France, with many recent records including a flock of eight in the Ouse valley south of Lewes, one of which is still there.