patch Little Egret

I was surprised to see a Little Egret standing on the Barton Town cricket pitch this morning as I went out of town; it was still there 3 hours later and it seemed likely that it had a problem even thought the fine aigrettes seemed to suggest it was in good health; as two footballers walked across the pitch it suddenly came to life and ran to the edge of the pitch before flying off over the houses; a few minutes later it was back and dropped into Pasture Road drain where it caught several small fish with apparent ease before being flushed by walkers on the adjacent road / footpath -- nice to see one fish eater has survived   - this drain has held Kingfishers in past cold winters but none this year and I can forsee a lack of breeding birds again in 2011