Record year for Somerset Great Egrets

Great Egret has enjoyed a record-breaking year on the Somerset Levels, as the species continues its rapid colonisation of Britain.

An estimated 50 chicks have now fledged this year on the Avalon Marshes. Nesting took place at 10 separate locations across Shapwick Heath, Ham Wall and Westhay reserves, with 25 of the 37 nests found going on to successfully fledge young.

At least 50 Great Egret chicks fledged from nests in Somerset this summer (Matthew Barfield).

Last year, 10 nests were located at Shapwick Heath NNR, with a further five at neighbouring Ham Wall. In total, some 36 young fledged from these nests, which were monitored by a dedicated group.

The colour-ringing project is now in its sixth year, with an additional eight young ringed at the nest in 2021. Seven of the eight fledged, and sightings have been coming in from a range of places both locally and nationally. Siblings from one nest were reported from RSPB Conwy and from Stocks Reservoir in Lancashire; siblings from another dispersed in opposite directions, reaching Powys and Suffolk respectively; and the most recently fledged bird is still on the Somerset Levels. Some of the birds ringed in previous years have also been seen this year in breeding colours, though it isn't known for sure if any of them established nests. If you see a Great Egret with a red colour ring bearing white letters, please report it to Alison Morgan at the RSPB via email.

Great Egret only joined the list of breeding British birds in 2012, when a pair nested at Shapwick Heath – the epicentre of the current population in the country. For much of the 20th century it was restricted to the wetlands of eastern Europe but, since the 1990s, the species began to make a comeback, nesting in increasing numbers across Europe and spreading west.

Since 2012, numbers of breeding birds in Somerset have steadily increased. In 2017, a pair of Great Egrets fledged three chicks at Holkham NNR, Norfolk, marking the county's first successful breeding attempt. In 2019, a single pair nested in Cheshire for the first time, at Burton Mere Wetlands.