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| Western Reef Heron - this slate-grey morph example was snapped in Bahrain by Charles J. Sharp - photo via Wikimedia Commons |
IT is not quite clear whether it is Simon Hugheston-Roberts or Lewi Burgess who takes the honours for having detected Britain's first Western Reef Heron at the weekend.
Some might fancifully describe the moment as the ornithological equivalent of being the first man on Mars.
The bird was firstly seen feeding in Foryd Bay, Caernarfonshire, then in nearby Caernarfon in the shadow of the castle.
Since then it has been watched by hundreds of twitchers whose arrival has brought a boost to the local tourist industry including hotels, guesthouses, pubs and restaurants.
With no historic British ornithological literature to provide context, description and perspective, where better to turn to than an article in the 1987 edition of the journal of the Bombay Natural History Society whose authors focus on the bird's habitats in Western India?
The authors write: "The Pithalpur colony located in an agricultural farm was the biggest colony in this area.
"The farm comprised of a farm house, couple of barns and a crop field and had about 250 coconut trees planted on its border.
"The farmer told us that they first nested in the farm in 1978, and since then they have been nesting every year.
"During one of our visits in winter we found that many reef herons were roosting on the same coconut trees.
"Because of the birds’ nesting and roosting activities, there was considerable loss of flowers and young coconuts.
"The coconuts were also damaged by the birds’ excreta dropping on them.
"We saw that the birds’ excreta had dripped down the surface of most of the coconut fruits.
"The farm owner estimated that he lost about 50 per cent of his coconut crop every year because of the herons.
"Despite the heavy loss of income, the farmer and his family tolerated the birds and did not molest them in any way.
"The herons and their broods on top of the tall coconut trees were almost free from predation."
The sharp-eyed authors, R.M. Naik and B.M. Parasharya, continue: "At another location, New Port, we found the biggest concentration of the nesting Reef Herons
"The port area is fenced and human entry to it is severely restricted.
"The area includes docks, warehouses, administrative and office buildings but no residential quarters.
"The birds nested on Mangroves, Peepul, Peeper, Tamarind, Casuarina, Mesquites and Portia trees growing on the roadsides close to buildings
"Although most of the herons' nests were low and the port area was buzzing with activities during certain hours, the herons remained apparently undisturbed.
"The birds would readily come down from the nesting tree to the ground to pick up nest material.
"They were actively protected by the dock workers and no one would dare to molest them.
"The dock workers had even nursed a large number of herons that were stunned by shock and cold during the cyclone which hit Saurashtra in November 1982.
"Occasional predation of the herons' eggs and chicks by the domestic cat and the House Crow occurred.
"White Ibis was a serious competitor of the herons for the nesting sites.
"The ibis came into breeding condition later than the herons and occupied the heron nests after ejecting the nest contents.
"The ibis, however, preferred to nest on top of the tall trees, so that the heron nests built lower in the same trees, and also those on short trees, were not affected.
"Another reason for the success of the New Port colony is that the nesting birds had rich and extensive feeding grounds available close to the colony.
"During the low tide, the mudflats, except the channel dredged for an approach of ships to dock, became exposed almost up to the horizon, and birds avidly fed on the mudskippers and other fish from the mudflats and tidal pools."
But back to the star visitor to Wales.
It will be a while before the record is confirmed by the various authorities pending which time there is always a chance that some spoilsport will deem the Western Reef Heron to be a sub-species of the Little Egret with which it sometimes hybridises.
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| Caernarfon Harbour and Castle - photo A.J. Marshall via Wikimedia Commons |
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