Great White Egret at Kenfig Saltmarsh

A breeding plumage Great White Egret proved to be a more difficult call than perhaps it should have been for me and Darren Coombs at the Kenfig Saltmarsh, this afternoon. On first view it did look fairly big amongst the vegetation but, frustratingly, not much to directly compare it with and it was difficult to see it in the open.
The breeding plumage all dark bill was not helping in very hazy conditions, but it was the bright red upper legs threw us right off course. The non-black legs seemingly ruling out a misjudged/mis-sized Little Egret. A quick call and conversation with Barry Stewart confirmed that the red tibia was in range for breeding plumage GWE. A little later the bird popped out of the vegetation to give away it's  size and it then flew off to check out the nearby scrapes. It was interesting that the more distant views of it in flight gave the impression of a bigger bird than some of it's brief closer range shorter flights.

The bird returned to the reedbed a little bit later and, although it remained hidden from our position after landing, it was thought to be present till at least 15:45