‘Purple’ Patch

Chris, our resident sightings officer has logged up another stonker, and here he tells us all about it!

Its been a solid start to the year with well over 115 species recorded so far at Stanford with some quality birds in March and early April including Firecrest (the first since 2020) and Sandwich Tern (first since 2021). This ‘purple patch’ continued (literally) when I found Stanford’s second ever Purple Heron on April 9th.
Whilst checking for Reed Warblers in the Leicestershire reedbed a large heron suddenly got up from the middle of it with my initial reaction being ‘that’s dark’. I panicked as it flew away from me towards Keepers Lodge Bay so I went for the camera but thankfully it circled back around and eventually landed back in the Leicestershire reedbed – a few flight record shots were obtained and the identification confirmed of the second ever Purple Heron at Stanford. 

 It then settled back in to the reedbed and despite several birders patiently waiting that evening it was only seen briefly once for the rest of the day.
Mick Townsend and Pete Bateup had the bird again the following morning so I decided to do a quick lunchtime check around the reedbed. I was lucky enough to relocate the Heron in trees at the Point where it spent much of the afternoon sheltering from a strong wind with occasional rain and I was able to get some further images, albeit distant.

Key ID points

    • Overall appearance of a dark heron, much darker than Grey Heron.
    • Black neck stripes were obvious in flight and when sat in trees, especially when preening and stretching.
    • Crown dark, almost blackish looking at distance.
    • Side of head and neck a reddish-brown colour, back dark grey.
    • Purple / dark patch at the bend of the wing (obvious in images).
    • Darkish underparts seemingly running into the thighs.
    • In flight purple / grey wing-coverts were obvious with a less obvious contrasting appearance than in Grey Heron.
    • Long, dagger like yellowish bill which gave the impression that it was an extension of the head / forehead (i.e., running from the crown into the bill with no deviation).
    • Feet and legs – yellowish in colour protruding in flight, long looking toes which looked disorganised and untidy (also seen in the images).

This bird was an adult and constitutes the 8th record for Leicestershire and Rutland and the 22nd for Northamptonshire. The only other record for Stanford was an adult on the 16th April 2011.

Chris Hubbard