Another weekend, another transatlantic mega heron, this time in the form of a Green Heron found stalking fish at a garden pond in Pembrokeshire, deep in the heart of South Wales.
Green Heron!
Like the American Bittern, I hadn’t been twitching when the Heligan Green Heron of October 2010 turned up, and curiously in a strange twist of fate, 8 years later the occasion of having both mega American herons in the UK at once mirrored 2010, when both species turned up in Cornwall together.
With Alex making light work of the 4 hour drive through the rolling Welsh hills and quaint villages, Red Kites drifting lazily overhead in good numbers for the latter part of the journey, we were soon on site at Llan-mill and making the short walk up the track to the garden of the finder, MP Simon Hart, where the heron had temporarily set up residence.
The heron's new home - a far cry from the swamps of America
Immediately upon arrival the heron performed brilliantly, perched right out in the open on a small branch at the front of the pool, rich chestnut and bottle green feathers shining in the sun with bright yellow eyes glinting and alert on the lookout for tiny fish below.
Lapping up the views for a further two hours as the heron made its way around the pond, these were some of our best views of Green Heron to date, having previously seen birds on several occasions in America either distantly or partly obscured by reeds. Only the 8th record for Britain, this is the latest in a flurry of birds since the turn of the millennium, and despite this being the 5th bird in the last 17 years alone, it’s still a great bird for the UK and one we were both pleased to make the journey down for.
Alex's great little video of the Green Heron
With a supporting cast of a nice Dipper zipping up and down the brook running alongside the house, huge thanks to the finder for putting out news and allowing hordes of birders to utilise his back garden in order to view.
Wow, a beautiful bird! It must have been great to get such awesome views :)
ReplyDelete