Colour-ringed little egret

In July I saw a colour-ringed little egret feeding on Phase 2 and the same bird a few days latter at Collingham Pits, just north of the reserve. The bird had a yellow ring with 'K' in black on the right tibia (the part of the leg above the 'knee') and a red ring with 'C' in white on the left tibia. I sent the details of this bird to Richard Hearn, co-ordinator of the national little egret colour-ringing scheme, and he promptly replied with the life history of the bird. It was ringed as a nestling in 2011 at a site by the Lincolnshire coast and so has flown about 75 km west to Langford Lowfields. Some other colour-ringed little egrets have been seen at Collingham Pits, where there has been upto 25 birds on the area of new workings, and two of those were ringed at a breeding site near The Wash. I think it's fascinating to find out about the movements of these birds, some of which have a post-fledging migration westwards into Nottinghamshire. There is movement of birds between Langford and Collingham Pits/Besthorpe NR to the north so it would be interesting to know if any other colour-ringed birds are seen on the reserve. If you see a colour-ringed little egret please report it to Richard Hearn at littleegrets@yahoo.co.uk A website is being developed at http://littleegrets.blogspot.com