Purple Heron
We’ve had a couple of distant sightings of Purple Heron in the UK, first at our local reserve at RSPB Ham Wall with the second at Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s Hen Reedbed. The books say that Purple Heron migrate north in May. Although our visit to the Camargue was in April we were hopeful that one or two Purple Heron might not have read the book, started their migration early and that we might just be lucky enough to see one of them. This hope was certainly on our wish list but it was not an expectation.
Sometimes wishes come true. We were driving fairly slowly along a narrow road, with no thoughts of Purple Heron, when we saw one just 20 yards away from the verge. I was quite expressive with my excitment about seeing one and fortunately, with no other cars on the road, we were able to pull in. It was a very slow careful walk back, hiding behind trees as I went, holding my breath, desperately trying not to disturb it. So here are my first two images of a Purple Heron which isn’t so far away that the heat haze has distorted it. Obviously this Purple Heron had no idea how happy it made me.
Sometimes expectations are exceeded. A couple of days later we visited the Scamandra reserve. We had been there all day and with just 20 minutes left before it closed we were about to pack our gear away. We had had a fabulous day and were delighted with the many stunning birds, lizards, frogs, bulls and much more that we saw. The late afternoon light was perfect, the sun was behind us, no one else was there. I looked left to take a final panoramic sweep of the vista and saw a Purple Heron flying straight towards us. This was the dream photographic opportunity. So I hope you can enjoy the images and be as thrilled as we were.
We visited RSPB Titchwell Marshes this summer and we lucky to see the Purple Heron in the picture below fly across the front of the hide. Only one other person reported the sighting despite it being a very busy day. That person was a volunteer who had just returned to Titchwell having driven for 2.5 hours to Minnesmere, sat in a hide for 2 hours, then driven back to Titchwell without a sighting.
A Purple Heron has spent this summer on the Somerset Levels, mainly between Ham Wall and Shapwick Heath. I have been lucky enough to see it a few times but the sightings were not as good as that at Scamandra.
