Believe me … when you’re ugly it pays to be a natty dresser.

Last week a Sacred Ibis made Cley marshes in Norfolk its home for a while. This rather ugly species is native to the African continent south of the Sahara up through Egypt and into Iran. In 1990 birds were allowed to fly free from a French zoo at the north end of the Bay of Biscay. In 1993 breeding was confirmed in the wild and a self sustaining population had been created. By 2005 1100 breeding pairs had become established along the French Atlantic coast.

It is only a matter of time before these birds spread to the UK but as yet it is not on the British list. Unless a flock of birds arrive or this singleton we have here on the coast turns out to be a vanguard of a larger influx this first summer bird will be deemed an escape.