On 23rd September I received a telephone call from a birding neighbour to tell me he had found a Little Egret / silkehegre Egretta garzette at Langgrunn which is close to where we live. As it was blowing a strong wind and raining, I packed my photo gear in its rain jacket so prolonged photography was possible and drove the short distance to where the egret was still feeding. By slowly moving along the breakwater with reeds partially obscuring the egrets view to the intruder it was possible to get into position for extended photography. The egret soon became accustomed to my presence and continued feeding, often quite closely, and I was able to photograph the bird undisturbed for one and a half hours. The egret was watched actively feeding on crustaceans and small fish during the whole visit, although it did make a sortie to the other side of the bay once. The lighting was not at its best and there was drizzel to moderate rain in the air so a variety of camera settings were tried to find the optimal for the available light. For these images I used a Canon EOS 7D mkII, Canon EF 500 f/4 L IS mkII and Canon EF Extender 1.4x mkIII, mounted on a tripod. Several video sequences were also taken although following a very active bird at close range with 700mm was not always easy.
The following day 24th September the weather had worsened considerably with very strong winds and a very high tide when I walked towards the breakwater. Suddenly the egret flew over me from some high trees and towards a large rock close to yesterdays favourite feeding place and disappeared from view. As I approached where it had landed the egret was found sheltering from the wind and rain behind the rock looking more like a white plastic bag than a bird. Unfortunately my presence disturbed the bird and it flew out to sea but then turned and flew southwards and landed in some tall trees surrounding the Borre Viking National Park, however, shortly after could not be re-found. Subsequently the egret has reappeared in Tønsberg.
What was presumably the same first year Little Egret was found at Larvik on 10th September and moved north to Tønsberg on 13th September where it had been present at various localities here until its two day visit to Horten. These observations constitute the second record for the species in Horten, with the first being from Bastøy on 6th May 2015.
Little Egret, first year - Langgrunn, Horten, Vestfold & Telemark 23rd September 2020
Little Egret, first year - Langgrunn, Horten, Vestfold & Telemark 23rd September 2020
Little Egret, first year - Langgrunn, Horten, Vestfold & Telemark 23rd September 2020
Little Egret, first year - Langgrunn, Horten, Vestfold & Telemark 23rd September 2020
Little Egret, first year - Langgrunn, Horten, Vestfold & Telemark 23rd September 2020
Little Egret, first year - Langgrunn, Horten, Vestfold & Telemark 23rd September 2020
Little Egret, first year - Langgrunn, Horten, Vestfold & Telemark 23rd September 2020
Little Egret, first year - Langgrunn, Horten, Vestfold & Telemark 23rd September 2020
Little Egret, first year - Langgrunn, Horten, Vestfold & Telemark 23rd September 2020
Little Egret, first year - Langgrunn, Horten, Vestfold & Telemark 23rd September 2020
Little Egret, first year flying southwards - Langgrunn, Horten, Vestfold & Telemark 24th September 2020
Little Egret, first year landing in trees at Borre National Park, Horten, Vestfold & Telemark 24th September 2020
