Photographer says she ‘got lucky’ with shots of great white egret at Watten
A local photographer said she was delighted to capture images of a great white egret at Loch Watten at the weekend.
Mel Roger, who lives in Thurso, took a series of photos of the rare visitor during a break in the stormy weather on Sunday.
It came after sightings of great white egrets around Yarrows and Wester in recent weeks.
In August, the RSPB announced that three great white egret chicks had left their nest near Loch of Strathbeg nature reserve in Aberdeenshire. It is thought to be the first time great white egrets have attempted breeding in Scotland and the RSPB described the successful fledging as “a significant milestone for these stunning birds”.
They are closely related to grey herons, with similar long legs and necks.
Mel said: “I definitely got lucky. I popped out during a break in the weather and there it was in almost the perfect position.
“I managed to get a fair few shots before a grey heron chased it off. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the camera in focus quickly enough to capture the mid-air scrap!
“I hung around for a little while and eventually it flew back past me, and settled a bit further away alongside the grey heron – so I’m not sure what the earlier scrapping was about.
“There have been sightings of two of them at Yarrows but I only saw one. Google says the only difference between male and female is that the male is a bit bigger – I’ve seen a few in Fuerteventura before and they have definitely been a lot smaller than this one, so if I had to say one way or another I think this one was probably male.”
Mel added: “I’m delighted to have finally got to see it in Caithness, but I got there a little late in the day for the best light. Hopefully the wind won’t scare it off and it will still be there later in the week.
“One thing I did notice is that it seemed to be a bit more active than a grey heron – constantly wading up and down its ‘patch’, whereas the grey heron will stand for half an hour or more and not move a muscle.”
The RSPB website says: “Great white egrets used to be occasional visitors to the UK from continental Europe, but over recent decades they have bred in the UK. They first bred in the UK in 2012 on the Avalon Marshes in Somerset, close to RSPB Ham Wall, and have since expanded their range, moving further north and now into Scotland.”
