Rare visitor eyes move to the UK
A long-range forecast from my favourite weatherman looks like coming remarkably true this summer.
Within hours of reading Met Office blogger Grahame Madge’s prediction that the glossy ibis could soon become a breeding British bird, three of these extraordinary looking creatures were eyeing up potential nesting sites on my local patch.
Fifty years ago, glossy ibises numbered among the rarest of rare birds to visit our shores, wandering seldomly from the Balkans. Apart from two wayward ibises holding court in Kent during the 1980s, the glossy ibis remained a major rarity until the turn of the new millennium.
These birds have been on a quest for global colonisation for decades, spreading from their core tropical range in Africa and
Asia to the Americas and the outer reaches of Europe.
Climatic conditions have now put the British Isles in sight for conquest as the birds’ southern nesting grounds are increasingly impacted by droughts. Up to 40 glossy ibises have been counted nationwide this spring.
Writing his regular Met Office blog, Grahame, who is a long-standing friend and birdwatching companion, pondered: “Over the last couple of decades little, cattle and great white egrets have all started to nest in the UK and now there is an indication that the glossy ibis may join the growing list. If it doesn’t happen this summer, then many believe it is surely only a matter of time.”
Almost as soon as I read Grahame’s post, I heard that three ibises with their long, droopy bills were eyeing up a former gravel pit transformed into a thriving nature reserve in the Great Ouse Valley.
The prehistoric-looking glossy ibis really does exactly what it says on the tin, with its shimmering, bronze-hued plumage refracting light into iridescent shades of emerald and amethyst.
Luckily, the ibises hung around long enough for me to capture a few photographs before heading off on high – no doubt to eye up more potential nesting sites.
The glossy ibis was a major rarity until the turn of the millennium