THE reports of another splendid bird near Taunton recently led me to a site near North Newton where five cattle egrets had been seen feeding among lambing sheep in a paddock.

One visit with a Taunton RSPB friend proved fruitless, but a couple of days later, out for a ride with my partner, we dropped in to have another look.

By this time, as far as we could see, only one of the egrets remained, but it was nevertheless a lovely bird to see. Is this species to be the next to arrive in large numbers similar to the little egret?

It seems to be more than likely with the many cattle egrets that have appeared in Britain this year.

Similar to the little egret, the cattle egret can be distinguished by its light coloured bill and legs, compared to the black bill and black legs with yellow feet of the little egret.

Apparently when they start to assume breeding plumage, as well as the long buff plumes that appear on the crown, breast and back, the red pigment of the bill and legs glows still brighter as blood vessels near the surface are flushed in display.

Another difference is that the cattle egret does not normally feed in wet swamps or along the foreshore, preferring dry land, especially where animals graze and disturb its favourite food of grasshoppers, beetles, spiders, grubs, worms, lizards and frogs.

During its first two years the cattle egret does not breed but spends a lot of time wandering. It is thought that these immatures are the individuals which, with no territorial ties, appear far beyond the established breeding range.

However, it has been proved that as a colonial nester, the stimulation of numbers can be obtainable where a few cattle egrets join a larger colony of gregarious herons or other egrets, so here's hoping the cattle egret saga will be as successful as that of the little egret.

Another milestone in my birdwatching career is that I recently broke the twenty-year barrier for writing RSPB Notes. After a rough calculation and allowing for weeks when the notes were not published, I reckon that's over one thousand articles! With a great display of vanity, I'm glad to say that I have some scrapbooks with every example of RSPB Notes ever published.

The very first was on February 5, 1988, when I was embarrassed into producing some publicity for the Taunton RSPB Group by the then leader Ken Miller. It is not a chore, as I find that a lot of the information I have had to research has stuck.

Besides, I can have a great deal of pleasure reliving some of the exceptional field and indoor meetings of the last twenty years through the RSPB Notes, and of remembering the generation of group members who are no longer with us. Diary dates: Tomorrow, Friday, February 29. A Bird's Eye View of the Quantocks'.

Illustrated talk by Andy Harris , NT Ranger. Trull Memorial Hall, 7.30pm. Thursday, March 6. Catcott Heath. Meet at map ref ST400418, 10am. Led by Evan Williams (Taunton 289194).