The Great White Egret, as its name suggests is a very large bird. It stands about 100cm tall and can have a wing span up to about 170cm (over 5 feet). It is not seen very often at Croome (may be once a year) so it can be quite a spectacular sight when it flies around the park, with its huge wings and long legs dangling behind. They tend to be a winter visitor, although they are starting to breed here (in small numbers) in the south of the UK.

As well as its huge size, the other good way to identify it is its very yellow bill, as shown below. Its bill can however be black when fully grown in the summer - fortunately this one was in winter plumage in September (or it was a young one).

You can see in the photo below, just how large this egret is, compared to the Canada geese nearby. This one was very mobile, being mobbed by crows, and even one of the smaller resident grey herons.