Irish Birding Sighting Record

Website : www.irishbirding.com
Sighting URL : https://www.irishbirding.com/birds/web/Display/sighting/181655/Great_White_Egret.html
Sighting Ref : IB181655
Sighting Date : 12 Mar 24
Common Name : Great White Egret
Scientific Name : Egretta alba
Location : Midleton
County : Cork
Number Seen : 1
Principal Observer(s) : Darius Bartlett Not Specified
Reported By : Not Specified
Comments : The bird that I saw was about the size of a Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), perhaps just a bit smaller, completely white, and had a very distinctive yellow bill. When I saw it, it was hunting in a patch of very marshy ground that had been flooded in recent weeks, just by the Tesco store on the edge of Midleton town. When it walked, it strutted in the same way as the grey heron does and, as I watched, it took off and flew over my head and across the field. In flight, it had its head tucked back, with its neck in a distinctive "S" shape, again very similar to how a Grey Heron flies.
Status : See IRBC Appendix 2