egretta garzetta, little egret, white with a black bill, seen on the Adur River, Shoreham By Sea, on the east bank opposite Shoreham Airport, 27th August 2007.

It was a beautiful day so we parked in Shoreham By Sea and walked along the river bank and old railway line upto Upper Beeding. (The Kings Head has a gate direct from the path.)

So we're just walking along, before we got to the Old Toll Bridge and one of the party says "That's not a seagull." We were about two hundred yards away. Sure enough it took of gracefully and lifted into flight, not far, just across to the other side of the river and then it dipped down and landed. The wing span was greater than the seagulls, the flight was just beautiful and there was no screeching.

Elegant. Apparently it has come up from the Camargue. What a lovely creature.