A fine day yesterday was capped by Mark finding a Purple Heron at the Mere. I've never seen one in the UK before and it was a first for Mark at the Mere, so a great record.
It was first seen at about 08:55 over by Swan Island and it flew west, disappearing towards Decoy channel. When I got the WhatsApp alert on Merely Birding I was walking on the south side footpath through Snipe Ground, so I turned round towards Heslops. At 09:18 I saw it take off from the south side reed bed and turn east then it was lost from sight behind the trees. Probably 4 or 5 seconds of viewing so no chance of a photo.
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| Flight path of the Purple Heron |
While we were waiting for the heron to reappear we had 30 Blackwits flying west and about 40 Lapwing circling, with a Golden Plover in tow.
Before the excitement I'd walked through to the hide and saw a single Great White Egret over on the north side. Little Egrets were all over too. Along with 2 Grey Herons and the Purple Heron we did well for herons yesterday.
At the hide I was looking at the flora and came across Branched Bur-reed, which although common I'd not noticed before.
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| Branched Bur-reed |
There wasn't much to see from the hide, but seeing a Pochard and a Little Grebe together made for a reasonably interesting sight.
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| Zedding Pochard and a Little Grebe |
When I got home the wind had got a lot stronger and put me off going out later to try and get the Purple Heron again. I spent a bit of time trying a few close ups in the garden...
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| Peacock |
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| Peacock |
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| Siberian Iris |
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| Passion flower |
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