It's not often I go chasing a rare bird these days, however, since this one was not to far away I decided to try. I'd only seen one Glossy Ibis previously in Scotland so it was good to reacquaint myself with the bird locally. It loosely associated with geese and swans and was quite unconcerned by our presence so we were able to walk away and leave it exactly where we found it. The Glossy Ibis is the most widespread Ibis in the world, having colonised every continent except Antarctica. It now breeds in Spain, the nearest to us. The first year juveniles are known to be wanderers and a few have been recorded travelling to the UK and Ireland where they winter. |