Cattle Egret and Yellow Wagtails

This morning I headed up to the West Cliffs just below West Down Beacon hoping for some visible migration. Biggest surprise was a Cattle Egret at around 07.50hrs heading low west. I wonder if it was one of the Seaton birds moving or just one of many that seem to be in the country at the moment? I immediately gave a call to adjacent patch watcher Matt Knott in the hope he might connect with it but there was no further sign. Maybe it went inland? Other birds this morning included 3+ Yellow Wagtails, 2 White Wagtail, Yellowhammer and small numbers of House Martin and Swallow heading west.

Following a tip off from Doug Cullen, I decided to visit a cattle field near Ladram Bay where there  a flock of at least 30+ Yellow Wagtails were present. Great to see such a flock particularly for a species which is sadly becoming less and less common these days!

Cattle Egret - Budleigh West Cliffs

Yellow Wagtail - one of the 30+ near Ladram Bay

Yellow Wagtails - Great to see this flock feeding in close proximity to the Cattle

Yellow Wagtails - More of the flock