I BISES are some of the most characterful of waterbirds, with their downward-turned bills and inquisitive, confiding eyes. And one of the small compensations for the worldwide climate-change crisis for UK bird enthusiasts is that we now have the opportunity to see at least one species of ibis here.
The glossy ibis ), whose chestnut plumage shimmers with iridescent green and purple highlights, is increasingly visiting here from its breeding grounds in southern Spain and France. Sightings have increased to the level at which it is no longer seen as a rarity to set the twitchers’ pulses racing and it was removed from the list of species considered by the British Birds Rarities Committee in 2013. In 2014, the first British breeding attempt occurred at the RSPB Frampton Marsh reserve in Lincolnshire, although sadly the pair were unsuccessful.
