Great White Egret - Portmore Lough - 1 of 6

Great to see a relatively rare bird to these shores, a Great White Egret (Ardea alba), at Portmore Lough today. According to the RSPB website there are only 35 winter visitors of this species to the UK. It's about the size of a Grey Heron and twice the size of the similar and more abundant Little Egret. It differs from a Little Egret by having a yellow bill rather than black and it has black legs and feet whereas the Little Egret hasyellow feet.