Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus

Dorney Lake  - 7th-8th May 2011 (at least)

Photos copyright Jim Rose

This individual was first seen on the morning of 7th May at Lea Farm GPs (Berkshire) where it was reported to have flown off NNE at 12:05.  Text and email alerts were posted in Bucks and Kevin Duncan decided to visit Dorney Lake to see if it had dropped in there.  Sure enough, Kevin located the bird at 14:15 on the Seasonal Pool but a short while later it was disturbed by Jackdaws which caused it to move to the reserve pools.  There it stayed and allowed many local birders to get a Bucks tick.  As can be seen in the photos it shared the pool with a Little Egret, maybe making the Ibis feel a little more at home, as they are both more closely associated with the Mediterranean and other hotter parts of the world.

There has been only one previously accepted record of this species in the county, that being of a bird being shot at Halton in 1886.  There is also a record of bird that was reported as being a Glossy Ibis at Willen Lake on 29th May 1987 but this was not accepted by BBRC on the grounds that a long escaped Puna Ibis could not be discounted.  There have been reports of this species in adjacent counties in recent years including Oxfordshire (Otmoor 2004), Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and most recently Berkshire, where a single bird was at Freemans Marsh during December 2010 and January 2011.

 

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