Eye Bliss

Well this wasn't in the script. I almost should know better by now than to be surprised by what turns up, but come on, this is getting ridiculous :)

GLOSSY IBIS in the area. The bird's location is sensitive to disturbance so I'll decline to say where it was for now.

The timing of my visit felt encouraging. I left work on Friday with a 'good weekend' feeling about it. Not least because of the weather. A week earlier and I would have been battling a bitter east wind, the so-called 'Mini Beast from the East' following the 'proper' beast's snow in late February. Instead there was calm, sunshine and double digit temperatures. Spring!


Even so, a relatively unremarkable Saturday unfolded with little to show for it other than the first singing Chiffchaff of the year. Seemingly out of nowhere a strange 'small dark heron' lifted itself 'crow-like' and flew around a bit before coming down nearby.

My camera was on as I was trying to take a picture of something else at the time and fortunately I managed a couple of shots before it vanished. It was obviously a Glossy Ibis. What a way to liven up a weekend.

Glossy Ibis are nationally scarce visitors to the UK from southern Europe. Formerly very rare here, something of an explosion in arrivals has occured following the growth of breeding numbers in Spain and France. Regular influxes have occured since 2007, leading to a pair breding in Lincolnshire in 2014.

In Yorkshire they are still a rare bird. Following a record of four together in 1997 there were none at all in the first decade of the century until 2009, and since then one or two have been seen annually. Autumn is the most likely time for one to arrive, though almost any time is possible. Coastal areas and big wetland reserves dominate the locations of sightings.

Summary of the weekend (7 new species for the year) to follow...