Egrets - More precious than gold?

I had wondered about a theme of white for this week’s blog in which I would feature the different (predominantly white) birds and flowers I had seen. However, once I started to do my customary post-walk research, I quickly decided to focus on one of the birds in particular - the little white egret.

The first thing that research confirmed was that egrets are indeed closely related to herons. I had always mentally classified them as the more elegant cousins of the grey herons.

The next stage in my ‘studies’ was to look at associations and it turns out that they are symbolic of purity, strength, independence, patience and concentration.

I had guessed the list would include ‘purity’ as in the world of spiritualism, white is regularly linked with purity, sanctity, and sacrifice.

Strength and independence come from the fact that egrets prefer solitude which is why like me yesterday you see individual birds. It turns out that they hunt for food alone and find solitary places to rest at night. Rather than this symbolising loneliness or indeed unfriendliness their solitary lifestyle is seen more positively as a sign of strength, self-reliance and for some freedom.

Their links to patience and concentration also come from their behaviour and their hunting style, in particular. Rather like the little egret I saw and photographed, egrets will stand stock still, staring intently at the water often for some time before either moving on or suddenly and dramatically stabbing their long beaks down into the water to catch a fish or other aquatic creature.

In some cultures and mythologies, egrets play a role as messengers for various gods and goddesses.

Digging a little deeper I discovered a bit more about little egrets and how they played an instrumental role in the founding of the RSPB.

I’m a lover of these historical stories so thought I would share it with you.

Little egrets or ‘egrittes’ appear to have breeding in southern parts of Britain for centuries. There are mentions of ‘egrittes’ in the accounts of the wedding breakfast of Henry IV in 1403, and of the coronations of Henry V (1413) and Henry VI (1429).

It also appears that for centuries, their distinctive plumes were a highly desirable clothing accessory.

The 17th-century ornithologist Francis Willughby, author of the ground-breaking, posthumously published Ornithologia (1676), wrote of their ornamental use on caps and headpieces, ‘sold very dear in the cities subject to the Turk’.

By the 19th century, the plumes were actually more valuable than gold. Each little egret produced about 1g of plumes, and these could fetch £15 an ounce (28g) on the European market (that equates to about £900 in today’s prices).

Demand from milliners for the plumes for fashionable female headwear was so high that there were real fears the little egret population was being devastated.

It became an issue that was discussed at a series of meetings chiefly involving ‘society’ women and in 1889 the Society for the Protection of Birds was formed in Manchester. It merged with the wonderfully named London-based Fur, Fin and Feather Folk in 1891

It was granted a Royal Charter in 1904 to become the RSPB.

Its first leaflet, Destruction of Ornamental Plumaged Birds, focused on the plight of little egrets, together with grebes, and most of the charity’s early campaigning was directed against the plumage trade.

However, numbers didn’t recover and as recently as 1960, the total number recorded was about 50.

I’m pleased to say that things are better today and the total British breeding population, according to the British Trust for Ornithology, is about 11,000 nesting pairs, with the total swelling to more than 12,000 in winter, when they are joined by migrants mainly flying in from southern Europe and northern Africa.

And after lots of words some pictures – those other white themed snaps I mentioned

Common Terns

Black headed Gulls (and their young)

Mute Swans (and their young)

and some flowers

I don't know their 'real' name but have always called them snap dragons or Grandma Pop out of beds and remembering picking them to squeeze the green bulb at bottom of the flower so that the flower itself would 'pop' out (I've since been told they are bindweed flowers)

It looks like it will be a good year for blackberries (and I know their flowers are pinky-white but flexing the white theme a bit)