I was working near Aberystwyth this morning and got lucky with a Squacco heron
which turned up at Ynys-hir yesterday evening and was still there at mid day
today. I was very lucky actually, it was on show and perched in a tree when I
arrived at about 12 noon, I watched it for 15 minutes until it dropped down
onto the ground and so far as I know it's not been seen since. Birdguides has
just reported that it's not been seen during a 3 hour watch this evening.
Squacco heron is a new UK tick for me, it's been a real bogey bird so great to
see such a smart individual with full breeding plumes. There's a video of the
bird further down the post.
How can I avoid seeing Squacco heron in the UK during a birding career
stretching back nearly 50 years you may well ask. Well, for the first 10 years
I'd probably never even heard of Squacco heron, then for the next 10 I
probably had a series of bad luck and near misses, followed by another 10
years of bringing up a family and adopting the "It's not that rare, I'll see
one eventually" attitude before spending the last 20 not too worried because
I've got other things to do and I've seen plenty abroad so I'm not travelling
hundreds of miles to see one in the UK. Before you know it, 50 years have
slipped by.
This brings my UK life list to 436. Could be one or two more if I've missed a
split, or one or two less if I've missed a lump, it's all a bit confusing
these days!
Also today, plenty of pied flycatchers, redstarts, red kites and a single
spotted flycatcher. Also ospreys at Dyfi.
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| Video: Squacco Heron, Ynys-hir |
Near Cwmystwyth.
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