The Great White Egret is an annual but scarce visitor to the UK averaging around 30 reports every year. It is a large white heron which can be told from other native species by colour and by size. In breeding plumage it can be confused with Little Egret but a good view of the bird shows it to be about twice as tall when the neck is extended.
Its core population breeds in central and eastern Europe although in recent years it has spread west and small populations now breed in Spain, France and the Netherlands. The first pair bred in the UK in 2012 in Somerset.
