The Stanpit Egret The Stanpit EgretFrom late July until early August 1998, a strange egret frequented Stanpit Marsh, Christchurch, Dorset. It was initially seen by Paul Harris and George Green on Sunday 26th July, and I photographed it the following Thursday but, apart from being aware that it was not one of the three normal-looking locally-fledged juvenile Little Egrets, I was unsure as to its identity.
As news of the bird and its odd appearance spread, interest in its identification rapidly grew and birders travelled from all over Britain to see it. By the following day, many observers were leaning towards the probability of it being a Western Reef Heron, but unfortunately this diagnosis did not even last the weekend and the identification eventually went (via a brief spell as a possible hybrid) full circle, back to juvenile Little Egret - albeit an 'odd' one. It was last reported at Stanpit on 10th August.
It is difficult to impart here just how unique the Stanpit egret appeared in life; it could always be picked out easily from the crowd, and the accompanying photographs illustrate just some of the apparently incongruous features shown by the Stanpit egret. It is already well-known that the colour of the bill and legs of juvenile Little Egrets is variable, but the bill-pattern of this bird was striking. It was as much the structure and feeding habits of the Stanpit egret which set it apart from the nearby Little Egrets. It usually appeared rather longer in the neck, an effect enhanced by the neck being consistently held more outstretched (with a distinct 'hook' or kink in the upper neck), while the head seemed quite angular.
It tended to be dominant over the local Little Egrets and employed a variety of feeding actions; whilst it sometimes fed just like the nearby egrets, it would more often wade into deeper water and it habitually 'gazed' for prey, neck-outstretched and head-tilted, in a decidedly heron-like way. Could this, or the fact that it chose to perch and preen on the only large (and reef-like) rock on the harbour-edge be a clue to its identity? At the very least it was an educational bird, and not 'just' a Little Egret.
Graham Armstrong, Dorset
Plate 1. The Stanpit egret egretta sp. with a Little Egret Egretta garzetta and Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus, Stanpit Marsh, Dorset, July 1998 (Graham Armstong). Although similar in dimensions to a Little Egret, the Stanpit egret appeared more bulky and habitually carried its neck in a more extended, snakey fashion. The bill looked quite long and somewhat deeper at the base, but this impression may have been enhanced by the paleness of the bill-base. The pale greenish legs also seemed quite sturdy. The Stanpit egret could be quite aggressive towards the nearby Little Egrets and was usually the dominant feeder.
The Stanpit egret was no ordinary Little Egret. If it was an abberant Little Egret exhibiting unusual bare-parts colouration, soiled plumage, selected structural anomalies and peculiar feeding techniques, then it at least broadens our perception of the variability of the species. But is there any tangible evidence in favour of it being anything else?
There has been a total of about 60 records of Western Reef Heron in Italy and France but, oddly, there are very few records in Greece (or indeed anywhere in the eastern Mediterranean away from southern Israel) and equally few from Spain and Morocco, so it is a decidedly erratic vagrant. That said, one will surely reach Britain sooner or later -although most birders would prefer a dark morph!
However, there is a twist to the tale. Western Reef Herons have probably been hybridising with Little Egrets in Europe for many years. Most recently, two Western Reef Herons were found in different breeding colonies of Little Egrets in France in 1996, and at least one of them reared two hybrid young (Ornithos 4:143). Hybrids, then, may well considerably outnumber the real thing! Yet the hybrid theory does not stop there. Not only have Great White Egrets and Grey Herons recently been proven to hybridise, but a Little Egret apparantly bred with Grey Heron in Belgium -so we really must keep rigorously open minds...
As for the origins of Western Reef Herons in Europe, it is worth bearing in mind that over 500 (apparantly of the eastern form schistacea) were imported into Germany between 1980 and 1982 (A. van den Berg pers comm.) and at least 18 of them were released. Subsequent Austrian and Swiss records presumably relate to these birds, and it is feasible that some of them (or their offspring) are still about. A few Western Reef Herons have even crossed the Atlantic though, so keep looking! Eds.
A further six colour photographs of the Stanpit egret, with detailed captions, appear in the original Birding World article (in Volume 11 Number 8). To order this back issue, e-mail: sales@birdingworld.co.uk