No glossing over of pack mentality
IF there is one thing I really enjoy, it is meeting and listening to birders as they tell me about all their sightings.
They have a reputation for being secretive and mysterious but not if you get them on their chosen subject – it’s a real education.
And you can ask them the most stupid questions because they realise immediately (by the way you walk) that you know very little about the subject.
We held an open day on one of our reserves and that made the local birders a bit grumpy because their ‘patch’ was being invaded by hundreds of people.
It was interesting to see that they actually took on a pack mentality where they would normally head off as individuals or in pairs.
This pack also became more prominent as they realised that there was a pretty rare bird on the reserve at that moment.
The birder pack were hunting the glossy ibis with lenses and cameras and there was much huffing and puffing when I told them that one of their clan had a picture of the bird from earlier in the day.
“Everywhere we go, it has just moved on,” they cried in anguished tones.
So, of course, I spent a good 10 minutes telling them about the picture that they missed.
Sightings of the glossy ibis are not as rare as they used to be around our coasts and inland reserves close to the coast.
In April 1997, two of these magnificent birds roosted at Pilling in Lancashire – it was the first sighting in more than 80 years.
Since then, there have been a lot of sightings around the country – they are believed to have nested in Lincolnshire – and quite a few in our region.
Some experts believe that drier conditions over the past couple of decades are pushing the birds further north.
The oldest recorded glossy ibis was 21 years old, in the USA.
They are lovely-looking birds with a chestnut head, neck, upper back and underneath and purple and metallic green wings and tail, hence the glossy name.
They are about two feet tall and have long, narrow bills that curve downwards. The best chance to see one is on wetlands like marshes, wet meadows and, sometimes, on flooded fields.
It all depends on where they can find food – insects and molluscs.
I am happy that these birds and other less common creatures keep my naturalist friends in a good mood.
To become a member of The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside, visit www.lancswt.org. uk or call 01772 324129. For more information about Cheshire Wildlife Trust, call 01948 820728 or go to their website at cheshirewildlifetrust.org.uk