Leighton Moss....Little Egrets

Yesterday Mike and I paid a visit to Leighton Moss and found it strangely devoid of birds. We went to the salt marsh pools at the Morecambe and Allen Hides. Conditions seemed ideal for waders but apart from a redshank and a greenshank nothing else was seen. These pools are usually teeming with a mix of lapwings.. godwits..redshanks and various assorted birds but on this visit it was unusually devoid of birds apart from Little Egrets. Ironically a few years ago it would have been quite an event to see a little egret but nowadays they seem to be everywhere and I understand that record numbers are now roosting at Leighton Moss.
We did have a brief visit to the Lower Hide area but again there was not much birdlife in evidence. A hobby had been seen recently and it was an ideal warm afternoon with dragonflies on the wing but the bird didn't show during our visit. We didn't visit the rest of the reserve but I understand it is generally quiet at the moment. I have posted some images of the little egrets which were a delight to watch as they fished and preened in front of the Eric Morecambe Hide and a shot of the lone redshank that briefly dropped in.