Egret - Little (Egretta garzetta)

The small white heron is now a common sight in many parts of the British isles. It is usually seen fishing for fish and insects at the edges of lakes. We have seen them at many reserves around the country including  RSPB reserves in Norfolk (Snettisham and Titchwell Marsh) and Needs Oare in Hampshire and the WWT at Llanethli in Wales

For flight shots use a fast shutter speed of 1/500 sec or higher and an F stop of F8 or higher. To get good flight shots we use the manfrotto 393 Gimbal type head and move the camera with the bird. Set the auto focus mode to continuous and the metering to center weighted. We always use manual metering and take test shots as required, automatic metering will often result in under or over exposed birds. Meter carefully on the white of the egret as it is easy to over expose this bird.  

After nesting most of these birds migrate to central Africa. They nest in colonies laying 3 - 5 eggs which hatch after 21 days. It is white with black legs and very distinctive yellow feet.