In 2007 myself, Steve Samworth, Phil Lawson and Dave Williams went to Lincolnshire to assist members of the Mid-Lincolnshire ringing group with the ringing of a little Egret colony at North Somercotes. This colony is believed to have produced its first young in 2005, and in 2006 there were 7 nests identified among the Heron nests in the Scots pine plantation. During that visit in late June 2007 only two chicks were found and ringed, and it was thought that we were maybe a week or so late in going to the nests. In 2008 and 2009 we went a little earlier each year but we found that the chicks were too big and were already climbing out onto branches away from the nests and were unreachable.

A little Egret Chick with colour rings

As this species is such a recent coloniser in this country, with the first confirmed breeding record considered to be in Dorset in 1996, and with little information regarding the movements of our resident population it was felt that with such a significant colony we should investigate further the nesting cycle of these birds so that we could get to them at the right time.

A discussion with Jez Blackburn revealed that the chicks would be in at a suitable size for ringing much earlier than we considered, and that mid-May was the prime time. The chicks should be about 7 days old and should be big enough for ringing. Armed with this information I went over for an initial investigation on the 7th May with the Lincolnshire ringers and a climber who had joined their group. This proved successful with 4 pullus ringed and more nests identified with either small young or eggs. Subsequent visits have been made, with Steve and also Jack Street joining a session for some tree climbing! This year a total of 27 Egret pulli have been ringed and colour ringed at the colony.

Little Egret chick - only a mother could love them!

In the last ringing report only some 135 Egrets were ringed in Britain, so the colony in Lincolnshire is nationally significant not only for its size but also for the number of pulli that have been ringed there this year. With the timing issue now solved it is hoped that future years will produce the same sort of significant numbers.
Thanks to the Mid-Lincs ringing group for allowing us to assist with this study.