Purple Heron, Lightshaw Flash

For our walk this morning and in a bid to avoid the potential of Good Friday crowds at Pennington Flash we had a walk to Lightshaw Flash. What a great decision that turned out to be!

Incredibly when we got to the western viewing screen there was an adult summer plumage purple heron complete with full breeding plumes on the marsh near the wooden bridge on the other side of Hey Brook. At first I just caught a glimpse of its head but eventually it showed very well at a distance of about 50m. Purple heron is a Greater Manchester mega, this is the third for the county but the first for many years.

It turns out that this is the birds second day, but news is not being released due to the current coronavirus pandemic. Basically I got lucky, I accidentally stumbled across a bird which was already known to be present and I was sworn to secrecy, a request I was happy to comply with in the circumstances. Sorry if this upsets anybody but my conscience is clear.  #COVID-19  #LockDown #StayHomeSaveLives  #SaveOurNHS.

Edit 14/05/2020: This bird was present for just three days and was last seen on 11th April 2020. Six birders saw this bird. No it wasn't a clique, they were the original finder plus me and four others who also accidentally stumbled across it.

My 5th purple heron in the UK and my 4th in the north west, but as a summer plumage adult this is by far the best, all of the others have been juveniles. I don't think I've even seen them this well abroad.

Framed by the wooden bridge.