Wednesday, December 02, 2020

Responsible Birding Diary: Wednesday 2.12.20

 

Today, I had what we birders call a 'UK find tick', ie a bird I can never claim to have 'found' for myself before in the country. It was a Glossy Ibis, and it was at Deeping Lakes LWT. As I drove in from the entrance at the east end, theGlossy Ibis was also coming in from the east (by flight not by car). I immediately recognised its flight style, even from behind, after seeing the Whittlesey/Ferry Meadows CP bird(s) very recently. But I wanted to be certain(seeing the head and bill would be useful!), so I stopped, wound my window down and binned it as it flew over the east pit. Sorry, not photos were taken!

It looked for all the world like it was drifting down to the pit, or the grassy area nearby, but I couldn't relocate it there or indeed around the west pit. It is possible that it was flushed from the nearby bank of the River Welland, as some dog walkers were up near where it apparently came from. So, it may have returned there. However, I am told that there was a report of a Glossy Ibis flying over southern Peterborough about 25 minutes later (which is only about 10km away, so it may be the same bird).

Who knows how many Glossy Ibises are around at the moment? There are three together further sound in Cambs and the bird at the Dog in a Doublet (near Whittlesey) was reported as still present a couple of days ago.

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