Friday 3rd June

A splendid day today – the weather was bright, warm, sunny and dry and there were 1-2 interesting birds seen.

Mary Redman had a Swift over her house at Port Wemyss this morning – that is the first seen on Islay this year.

Over at Cornabus Ed Burrell saw a Stock Dove on some reseed grass – again the first of 2022.

The 9 Black-tailed Godwits are still feeding in exactly the same little pool by the north Hide today from where I saw my first Black-headed Gull chicks of the season.

Out from the South hide viewpoint was an egret. It was a long way off in a heat haze, thigh deep in vegetation so I couldn’t see its legs. There was nothing anywhere near to gain a size comparison. One minute it looked large with a heavy bill and I was turning it into a Great Egret. Next it turned its head and looked quite slim, so I went back to Little Egret! I watched it for an hour and it barely moved! Nothing was right for either species: it had lots of fine body plumes like a breeding Great but not a trace of the characteristic head plumes of a breeding Little Egret. The bill was “wrong” for both species - dark grey above, a bit paler (yellowish?) on the lower mandible at the base. At times the bill looked heavy and with a “jowl” - but it was a long way off.. As is so often the case,, eve n with an ID as simple as this, the literature leaves you scratching your head in bewilderment! Do Little Egrets have such a lot of body plumes as this bird – especially without showing a trace of the head plumes? Nothing online could tell me. Information about bill colour is all over the place – the emphasis being on the very obvious that we all know - "Little Egrets have black bills and Great Egrets have yellow bills" – but of course it is not that simple and the variations not adequately explained. Look out for it tomorrow and hope it is A) half a mile closer; B) shows its legs and feet and C) is standing next to something to work out what its true size is.