GO WILD WITH ERIC PAYLOR

FIRST of all it was the little egret, now its much bigger cousin the great white egret is beginning to appear regularly on Cleveland's lakes.

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Mary Simpson reports seeing three great white egrets together in the west pond at RSPB Saltholme, while I have been informed in the past that seven were once spotted at the same time at the nearby Haverton Hole.

These stately white egrets, which have long slender necks, were until recently a very rare visitor to Britain from the Continent.

They were first recorded breeding in Somerset in 2012 and have since bred in various other sites. Last year they bred at the RSPB site at Loch of Strathbeg, which is north of Aberdeen.