A long day ahead of me when I woke in the morning, I had a full day of statistics and long lectures but finally after the test I was free! Only problem was I only had about an hour until darkness. Good news awaited me on RBA when I got to the flat the Purple Heron, only a few hundred meters down the lane, had been reported again at about midday so I rushed down on my bike only to find an equally desolate reservoir as on my previous dip. Obviously I avoided the muddy east bank (see my last post for reason stated previously) and wondered around the west side where I scanned the island and eastern bank from the bench. Still no luck I decided to try and get a better view of the island so diverted a little form the track where the viewing was barely any better but after about ten minutes of scanning I suddenly came across the
JUV. PURPLE HERON Ardea purpurea perched on the far eastern bank stood nearly motionless with its bill pointed at a sharp upward angle. With only about fifteen minutes left of adequate light I could make out several key features eg. its striped neck, obvious yellow/orange bill colour and rusty orange coloured nape and back. I was also impressed to say the least of the sight of
100's of Jackdaws Corvus monedula coming in to roost on the island calling loudly in a tight group and swirling about above my head. Finally a really happy ending after all my dips (see previous post).
probably the worst ever shot of a Purple Heron
College Reservoir overlooking the east bank and the island from the west bank
Jackdaws coming in to roost on the island at College Reservoir
This made me laugh yesterday, shame it wasn't a genuine one
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