Glossy Ibis - 2nd August 2015 - Brough Airfield

The 1st August 2015 saw us moving house from North Ferriby to Hessle. At 7pm I noticed a message from Erich Hediger saying that a Glossy Ibis had been found at Brough Airfield. Too busy to get there on the first, I kept my fingers crossed that it would still be there the following day.

My only previous Glossy Ibis had been a very confiding bird at Fairburn Ings in 1989. In recent times this bird has had irruption years where it looks set to colonise in the UK, following in the footsteps of the Little Egret. So far however, those irruption years are followed by years like 2015 where records are generally few and far between. So it was that at 5am the next morning I was up and out and walking along from Brickyard Lane, out past Welton Water and along to the airfield.

I was lucky, and the early start paid dividends. Admittedly the bird was not doing very much! Sleeping at the far side of the marsh, the purple and blue colours were evident, it really is an unmistakable bird! It is a shame that I didn't get to see it feeding in the shallows, and it did remain very distant. However, by ten o clock that morning it had departed leaving would be admirers later on the Sunday to be disappointed. Definitely the bird of the patch year so far.

Terrible record shots but it really was a fair distance away and having a snooze!