Blogger: Rachael Murray, Media Assistant
A local resident in Suffolk had an early Easter surprise this week after discovering a rather unusual egg in her back garden. Avril Sciocco, from Sudbury, was taking advantage of the sunny spring weather to hang out her washing, when she spotted a glinting article coming from her former vegetable patch, now the stony bottom of the garden.
Avril describes: "I wanted to make sure that there was nothing dangerous in the garden that might harm my children, so went a bit closer, only to realise that the gleam was coming from under a sleeping bird in a nest. To ensure I didn't harm the bird, I retreated to the dining room where the kids were getting excited, and we got the binoculars out to take a closer look.
"We couldn't believe what we saw! There was a beautiful bird in the nest, clearly a proud mother protecting her eggs, and I realised that what had caught my eye was the glint of foil encasing a Cadbury's crème egg!"
After calling the RSPB Eastern England, a member of their conservation team went to survey the scene. The bird discovered was identified as a stone curlew, usually found nesting on acidic grassland, where the grass is short and pocketed with bare, 'stony' patches. Stone curlews are rare summer visitors to southern England, often found nesting on farmland in the Eastern Region. They are the size of a crow, with bright yellow eyes, and are predominantly active at night.
Erica Howe, communications manager for the RSPB in Eastern England says: "It is unusual to find stone curlews nesting in gardens, but it has been known to happen, particularly in rural areas, when they have wandered off course from their farmland home and found a suitable habitat nearby. What is most strange is that this bird adopted a Cadbury's crème egg! We can only imagine that this particularly broody bird found the foil wrapped egg near her nest whilst out and about at night in the dark, and mistook it for one of her own."
Avril added: "My children were so excited to find such a special bird nesting in our back garden, and loved chatting with the RSPB when they came to visit. This experience has reminded me to get them out and about a bit more often to see what other special birds and wildlife we have in our area. And I'd better replace that crème egg next time I go shopping!"
The bird has now been safely re-homed and is nesting happily back on suitable farmland in the area, sadly without its foil wrapped family member.