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Environment & Energy

xchrom

(108,903 posts) Sun Jun 3, 2012, 06:39 AM Jun 2012

Great white egrets breed in UK for first time

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/18280491

The great white egret chick is the first of its kind to hatch in the UK

Great white egrets are breeding in the UK for the first time at a Somerset nature reserve.

At least one chick has hatched at Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve, it has been confirmed, setting a new UK breeding bird record.

To have the egrets, a species of heron and rare visitors to the UK, breeding in the country was "incredibly exciting", manager Simon Clarke said.

There have also been unconfirmed sightings of a second chick.

"It was a great sense of relief when we confirmed we have got at least one chick on the nest," Mr Clarke told BBC Nature.