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.
There are a number of birds that Alex has on his British list over me that are going to be pretty hard to topple – Marmora’s Warbler, Common Yellowthroat and Cream-coloured Courser all spring to mind as being the ones that will try and see it out to the bitter end. Having not gone for the female Rock Thrush that turned up at Spurn back in spring 2013, despite there being a fine spring male on the Scilly Isles back in April earlier in the year, this was still a species I had not yet managed to grip back.
Fast forward to a wet Thursday in the middle of October when the welcome news of an adult male Rock Thrush broke, having been found at Pwll-du Quarry in the heart of deep south Wales. With photos emerging later that day and a number of happy twitchers connecting, my opportunity to grip back on this mega Mediterranean stray suddenly looked set to be a real possibility.
Common Rock Thrush at Pwll-du, South Wales
With clear skies and a strong Redwing passage later that evening, it was touch and go as to whether the bird would indeed stick around, but sure enough, after a slow start on Friday morning and again on the Saturday, the reports of it still being on site came trickling in.
Making good time down the motorways and arriving in the welsh valleys after lunch, a quick ten minute stride up the muddy track later and rather surprisingly we were instantly watching our prize - one fine male Rock Thrush perching proudly in a bare tree right in front of us, just one happy photographer stood below it rapidly clicking away.
With the crowds of birders on site rapidly descending on the tree the bird soon flitted across to a nearby slope where it immediately began to probe the soft mossy tussocks, providing great scope views for all assembled. Whilst nowhere near in the same league visually as the earlier male on Scilly, the Pwll-du Rock Thrush was still every bit as charming, hints of chestnut orange coming through on the belly and flanks, whilst also sporting a back flecked with numerous delicate white speckles.
Having lapped up the views for around 20 minutes or so, the Rock Thrush suddenly took flight, flying strongly over the hillside and down the other side of the valley, apparently flushed by two people breaking the skyline on the top of the hill behind it we later heard.
The views from Pwll-du!
Despite extensive searching on the slopes and in all three quarries for the rest of the day, the Rock Thrush sadly couldn’t be relocated, and we felt extremely lucky that we’d arrived when we did – one more service station stop and we could have been facing a very painful dip and a return visit the following weekend!
Alex's great little video of the Rock Thrush
With 28 accepted records at present this was by no means a “mega mega”, but it was still a great bird that I had been wondering when I would get another opportunity to see, especially having never even seen one abroad in Spain. Having so far been around for a good two weeks, the Rock Thrush is still present now, having seemingly set up home on the welsh mountainside and developing a taste for the abundance of mealworms that have been laid out for it by opportunistic photographers - although whether this is doing its health any good is another matter entirely. Being just a few miles away from both the Blorenge Marmora’s Warbler and the Newport Yellowthroat, who knows what other treasures and grip-backs this little corner of Wales can deliver – an adult Cream-coloured Courser perhaps parading on one of the hillsides would certainly be most welcome……
