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continental invader: |
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Rupe Member Joined: 17 Sep 2007 No. of posts: 27  View other posts by Rupe |
Posted: 07 Mar 2010 Not sure if this is the right catagory for this thread but is anyone getting concerned about the Little Egret(Egretta garzetta invasion.Here in Essex they are becoming a very common sight.Ten years or more ago they were a rariety but now most streams,rivers,ponds or marshland have a pair or more of them.Now that the amphibian breeding season is starting will they be another threat to our native species.If they follow the Collered dove explosion im sure that they will be.I'm sure if a creature started killing thousands of native birds it would quickly have a price on it's head.However it is a natural visitor and not an introduced species so i suppose nothing can be done. Clive |
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Suzi Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 No. of posts: 860 View other posts by Suzi |
Posted: 07 Mar 2010 Very common here in Devon - to well inland. I've seen them up north as well, which others living there will confirm. Suz |
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Peter Senior Member Joined: 17 Jan 2008 No. of posts: 260 View other posts by Peter |
Posted: 07 Mar 2010
Plenty here too (South and West Wales). [QUOTE=Rupe]However it is a natural visitor and not an introduced species so i suppose nothing can be done. In a nutshell I would have thought? 
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Caleb Forum Coordinator Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 448 View other posts by Caleb |
Posted: 08 Mar 2010 [QUOTE=Suzi]I've seen them up north as well, which others living there will confirm.á [/QUOTE] Yes, I saw a couple on Lindisfarne last year. |
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Suzi Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 No. of posts: 860 View other posts by Suzi |
Posted: 08 Mar 2010 Are they going to be more of a threat than herons? Suz |
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Bullseye Member Joined: 04 Apr 2007 No. of posts: 9 View other posts by Bullseye |
Posted: 17 Mar 2010 Quite a lot down here in the SouthEast,they don't decimate the amphibian populations in the rest of Europe so I can't see why they would here,plenty of Marshies/Edibles for them here though.They do seem to favour estuaries here,not many frogs there. "I'm not saying there shoud be capital punishment for stupidity,but why don't we take the safety labels off and let the issue resolve itself ?." |
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Suzi Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 No. of posts: 860 View other posts by Suzi |
Posted: 17 Mar 2010 On many inland rivers and streams here in Devon and this morning one was circling the garden as if coming in to land. I guess it saw the stream at the bottom of the garden because my pond is only 6ft in length! They spend quite a bit of time up trees as well. Suz |
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Rupe Member Joined: 17 Sep 2007 No. of posts: 27 View other posts by Rupe |
Posted: 18 Mar 2010 This is my concern.They are far more tolerant to human disturbence than herons.The ones i see rarely fly more than 50mtrs and land further down(or up)stream and continue to do this until doubling back.Herons on the otherhand often fly out of sight.As for the rest of europe i saw only a few in spain and none in south france or north italy. As england is an island i believe that although they may prefer estuaries that no parts of the country are unreachable by daily migration.This may not be the case for most of europe. Any comments from RSPB members ? Clive |
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herpetologic2 Senior Member Joined: 15 Jun 2004 No. of posts: 1369  View other posts by herpetologic2 |
Posted: 21 Mar 2010 Not a problem in my view - at least the introduced marsh frogs will provide food for them. The next natural coloniser is going to be the Cattle Egret - a larger heron species - all evidence of global climate change! Vice Chair of ARG UK - self employed consultant - visit ARG UK & Alresford Wildlife |
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herpetologic2 Senior Member Joined: 15 Jun 2004 No. of posts: 1369 View other posts by herpetologic2 |
Posted: 21 Mar 2010 PS it is the degradation and destruction of natural habitats by humans which is the biggest threat to amphibians and reptiles in this country anyway Vice Chair of ARG UK - self employed consultant - visit ARG UK & Alresford Wildlife |
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will j Member Joined: 06 Aug 2005 No. of posts: 18 View other posts by will j |
Posted: 22 Mar 2010 As it has been said already, Little Egrets are widespread throughout the Old World and are unlikely to cause amphibian declines. As we only have two other native heron species (Grey Heron and the still localised Bittern) we are rather impoverished on the heron front c.f. similar latitudes in Europe, East Asia and North America which all have around 8 species give or take. On a side note, Cattle Egrets occupy a rather different niche to other heron species and amphibians would form a much smaller part of the diet then say, Grey Herons or Little Egrets. Birder from Shropshire, adrift in Cornwall! |
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