Cattle Egret close to home

There was a time when Cattle Egrets were a major rarity - I remember my first in Norfolk about 20 years ago and the crowds of twitchers there. Since then numbers have increased year on year with recent influxes being more and more common, following the trend of Littles and Greats. But there are still something of a southern bird and any individual north of, say, Leighton Moss still attracts attention. So, when one turned up recently just a few miles away from home in northern Cumbria, I couldn't resist. Although the late afternoon sun played hide and seek behind the clouds and never seemed to be in the right place at the right time, I did get some pleasing images - and there was a Little Egret there too. With the bird having frustrated me on my first visit, I returned a couple of days later and got a belter with it chomping on a frog in gorgeous sunshine.