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Rare bird returns to Norfolk after three centuries
Last updated: 03/08/2010 15:49:00
The first colony in three centuries for one of Britain's rarest breeding birds has been established on a North Norfolk nature reserve.Spoonbills at Holkham
The spoonbill, which has bred only four times in Britain in the last 300 years, has achieved what is described as “stunning success” at Natural England's Holkham reserve and, for the first time since the early 1700s, the UK has its own breeding colony of these beautiful crane-like birds.
Careful monitoring has confirmed that four nesting pairs have now fledged a total of six young, with at least a two further pairs feeding their young in nests.
Not since the early 1700s has more than one spoonbill bred in the UK and conservationists are hoping that the breeding success at Holkham is not a one-off.
Interest was aroused when a total of nine spoonbills - mostly adults in full breeding plumage - arrived this summer in the freshwater marshes at Holkham. The spoonbills established themselves in the mixed breeding colony of cormorants, grey herons and little egrets already on site.
Michael Rooney, Natural England's senior reserve manager at Holkham NNR said: ”A lot of careful work has gone into creating and managing ideal habitats for a range of nesting birds at Holkham, so it is very exciting and a stunning success that the reserve has become a safe haven for a breeding colony of spoonbills.”
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