Great Egrets coming into breeding plumage

Thanks to Meurig Garbutt for a potentially very significant photo: a Great Egret (one of a pair) showing two signs of coming into breeding condition at Llyn Coed-y-Dinas today: black tip of bill and plumes. In the Somerset Levels, Great Egrets are nesting on the ground in reedbeds like a Bittern, rather than in heronries. We are still waiting for a first breeding record for Wales. The delicate plumes, appearing in the photo to be on the wings, in fact originate on the shoulders.