A Night Heron was reported just outside the county at Brockholes Preston in September 2014, as i say not in the Gm recording area but not too far away,
There has been two records of Night Heron in the county.
The first was at Northenden in 1865 and the second was at Rhodes Lodges on July 24th 1987.
The Rhodes bird was a juvenile and although was not seen again on the 24th after its initial sighting despite being looked for it was apparently seen again on the 25th. It did appear in the county bird report for that year but only at the very back of the report as it was believed that strong northerly winds prior to its sighting strongly suggested it having come from a feral population at Edinburgh Zoo but subsequent investigations appeared to disprove this as those individuals were all ringed. Either way it was submitted to BBRC some time after the sighting and accepted.
-Very interesting Pete; - I visited Rhodes Lodges several times whilst exploring a couple of years ago, and although on a smaller scale than the Wigan sites which I mentioned, it does have some more secluded areas with poolside trees overhanging shaded backwaters which would seem to be eminently suitable for a vagrant Night Heron to be skulking within.
Would you know by any chance the month and year of the sighting? It seems a shame that the record wasn't submitted at least.
We have a Durham Wildlife Trust reserve (Low Barns) some seven miles from where I live, which bears some similarity to the Rhodes Lodges complex. At Low Barns I found an adult Night Heron on the relatively early date of February 4th (2007) which was only seen on that one day (a Sunday) which was unringed, and accepted as a wild bird on the basis of my submission.
I don't know what the overall national trend might be for the species in the U.K; are earlier spring records an emerging pattern?
Regards,
Mike P
Hi Mike,
I really haven't got a clue which year it was Mike,but I'm pretty certain it was spring(typical overshooting time),it was definitely mentioned in the Bird report for that year,that's how I found out about it. I vaguely know the site and agree it looks perfect for a Night Heron,and as it's a fishing lodge probably stocked with plenty of fish.
-Very interesting Pete; - I visited Rhodes Lodges several times whilst exploring a couple of years ago, and although on a smaller scale than the Wigan sites which I mentioned, it does have some more secluded areas with poolside trees overhanging shaded backwaters which would seem to be eminently suitable for a vagrant Night Heron to be skulking within.
Would you know by any chance the month and year of the sighting? It seems a shame that the record wasn't submitted at least.
We have a Durham Wildlife Trust reserve (Low Barns) some seven miles from where I live, which bears some similarity to the Rhodes Lodges complex. At Low Barns I found an adult Night Heron on the relatively early date of February 4th (2007) which was only seen on that one day (a Sunday) which was unringed, and accepted as a wild bird on the basis of my submission.
I don't know what the overall national trend might be for the species in the U.K; are earlier spring records an emerging pattern?
Regards,
Mike P
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In a little over three years, counting just from May 2015, Manchester has done really well for heron enthusiasts, with six species gracing the county. Of these Little Egret is firmly established as a species to be recorded as a matter of routine. One wonders if Cattle Egret will follow in its wake? - (I hope so, as presently I'm somewhat tied up with chores and unable to justify the trip down to Lightshaw for what would be a GM tick).
The likeliest next species to be turned up (to maintain this momentum) would arguably be Night Heron, especially in view of the expanses of ideal habitats at Wigan Flashes and at Pennington where a skulking bird on a March early morning would seem eminently credible.
Pride of place of the above surely goes to the fine Little Bittern which delighted birders at Elton during its brief stay.
Regards,
Mike P.
-- Edited by Mike Passant on Sunday 25th of June 2017 04:08:56 AM
There was a Night Heron several years ago at I think Rhodes Lodges,Middleton,that was dismissed at the time by the then county recorder(I think Peter Hill ?) as an escape from Edinburgh Zoo even though that flock had pretty well ceased to exist by then and the date coincided exactly with a number of other overshooting Night Herons in other parts of the country which were well documented by the rarity information services of the day !!!! Draw your own conclusions on its probable vagrancy credibility,I know I have,unfortunately no news was ever put out about the bird,so as far as I'm aware very few people saw the bird.
I was thinking something similar the other day Mike! Admittedly I wasn't thinking so much about GM specifically, or about the number of species, it was just that I noticed in my notes that I have recorded Little Egret in every month this year in the NW of England. A statistic that would have been pretty amazing even as recently as 15 years ago in the North West. Your prediction for Night Heron at either Pennington or Wigan Flashes is one I share, and I have often fantasised about walking into Pengies Hide to see a Night Heron tucked into the far left hand bank, perching on an overhanging willow branch. Failing that, a Squacco Heron would do nicely thank you very much!
-- Edited by Craig Higson on Sunday 25th of June 2017 12:28:19 AM
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In a little over three years, counting just from May 2015, Manchester has done really well for heron enthusiasts, with six species gracing the county. Of these Little Egret is firmly established as a species to be recorded as a matter of routine. One wonders if Cattle Egret will follow in its wake? - (I hope so, as presently I'm somewhat tied up with chores and unable to justify the trip down to Lightshaw for what would be a GM tick).
The likeliest next species to be turned up (to maintain this momentum) would arguably be Night Heron, especially in view of the expanses of ideal habitats at Wigan Flashes and at Pennington where a skulking bird on a March early morning would seem eminently credible.
Pride of place of the above surely goes to the fine Little Bittern which delighted birders at Elton during its brief stay.
Regards,
Mike P.
-- Edited by Mike Passant on Sunday 25th of June 2017 04:08:56 AM
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