A tweet off https://twitter.com/marburypatch this morning got the pulse racing as someone had seen a Glossy Ibis on Neumann's Flash in Northwich on my old patch.I needed Glossy Ibis as a patch tick so I rang Malc curtin who was already on his way.The bird had been found by Greg baker one of the patch regulars, as he was watching a Little egret on Stilt island the Ibis had been spooked by the egret and flew over to Ashton's flash.I soon drove over to Northwich but the news wasn't good the bird had not been seen again.I met up with Malc and his wife and we walked all the way around Ashton's flash but no luck,there were a lot of gripped off birders.As birders started to depart and we walked back to our cars Malc received a phonecall off another local patcher Mark Taylor who had relocated the bird back on Neumann's.We soon made our way to where the bird was showing and it was just happily feeding around the reeds.
GLOSSY IBIS
The Glossy Ibis was a 2nd for the patch,the last one roosted in 1992 at Neumann's Flash from September 30th to
October 2nd and was watched as it fed in a field by nearby Marston Flash on October 3rd, this was the first record for Cheshire and Wirral. The record, mentioned by T Hedley
Bell in “The Birds of Cheshire”, of one on Burton Marshes from September 16th to October 6th 1959
was only accepted by BBRC for Flintshire.
