I’ll keep this brief but sad news..... The Flamingo has departed the islands. No more will anyone look across Main lagoon and be cheered by sight of a large pink bird, normally with his head in the water, feeding away, no more will he take off in flight and look like a long thin pink pencil with wings. Perhaps the urge to find his own was to strong or perhaps he realised that the world was to replete with possibilties after his daring bid for freedom to stay in one place forever!? Whatever it was, we will never know.....
Godspeed, big fella, we wish you luck wherever you next surface.
However, on a positive note, Spoonbills have started arriving on the island, as mirrored nationally, with large influxes from Aberdeenshire to Essex. So far the max count is 10 but three where present this morning, along with 12 Black tailed Godwits (commuting between here and Boyton), good numbers of Lapwings and Curlews and the Avocets are starting to build up, soon it will be September and the numbers will peak at a 1000.
However, I am wishing the summer away, the breeding birds are still going strong and at some point in the next week or so, I will have an idea of numbers although the success rates will have to wait for a little later. This will only be known once the birds have fledged or given up on the breeding season. I will post them here, when the totals are in.
Whatever their origins, they are certainly birds with character. He was popular with visitors and volunteers alike, so it was a shame when he was'nt seen for a few days. Cheshire? Nice to think that he his still being watched somewhere.
That's a shame. Wherever they come from, it's always great to see a flamingo. Interestingly, a saw a report on Birdguides last week of a lesser flamingo somewhere in Cheshire. I wonder if it's the same one? Minsmere's recent Chilean flamingos resurfaced in North Norfolk, so it's quite possible your lesser headed north too. Perhaps we'll never know!