Green Heron at the Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall
 

Britain's 7th Green Heron, the only other Cornish record was 121 years ago (© HeliganWild)
 

A wave of excitement spread across The Lost Gardens of Heligan, on the morning of Wednesday 6th October, as an incredibly rare sighting of a Green Heron in the Lost Valley was recorded by Heligan’s wildlife team.

 

Whilst taking his daily wildlife checks of the gardens and estate Bob Mitchell spotted an unusual looking bird on the edge of the lake in Heligan’s Lost Valley. On further investigation Bob and the wildlife team discovered that the images Bob had captured were in fact of a Green Heron.

“My eye was first caught by the unusual plumage of the bird and I realised it deserved closer investigation, on doing so I realised it was a heron but not one that should be here at Heligan or even in fact in the UK. It was a very exciting experience and I was totally elated to be in the presence of such an unusual bird.” Said Bob Mitchell from Heligan’s wildlife team. 

Derek Julian from the Cornwall Bird Watching and Preservation Society came to Heligan to see the bird for himself and commented that, “it really is extremely rare to see a Green Heron in the UK and is incredibly exciting because it has come from so far away. The distance this small bird has travelled is amazing and we think it probably came in ahead of gales on Tuesday night.”

Birders nterested in visiting The Lost Gardens of Heligan can do so between the normal opening hours from 10am to 5pm – last admission 3:30pm. Garden admission Adult £10, Senior £9, Child £6, Family £27. You can also catch a glimpse of the bird here where some footage captured by Heligan’s wildlife team has been displayed.
 

The last Green Heron was in 2008 in Kent and stayed for 22 days (© Peter Beesley)
 

 
 

Lost Gardens of Heligan
http://www.heligan.com
7th Oct 2010