Greetings from Cape Town,
Just a quick note in response to your message, Simon. Grey Herons certainly
do occur in the Southern Hemisphere and are probably one of the commonest
herons at any water body in Southern Africa. I know this still doesn't shed
any light on where the heron could have come from, because, certainly in our
part of the world, they are sedentary.
If a vagrant heron turns up, one would rather expect it to be a migratory
species. In fact, in South Africa in the last few months, we have had a
wonderful time with vagrants and have, in fact, had 3 vagrant herons turning
up - Little Blue Heron, Western Reef Heron and Snowy Egret!!
Were any photos of this Grey Heron taken and if so, where could we view
them? I don't want to tread on any toes, but was it definitely a Grey Heron?
Were other possibilities considered like for example, Great Blue Heron which
is superficially similar, or perhaps even the closer looking Cocoi Heron?
For those of you that are not sure what Cocoi Heron looks like, go to
http://www.amazilia.net/images/Birds/Herons/CocoiHeron.htm where there are 3
reasonable photos of the bird. This is bird which occurs in South America
and is known to wander off course on occasion. Just a thought to consider...
Kind Regards
Trevor
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Trevor Hardaker and John Graham
Cape Town, South Africa
ZEST for BIRDS
Website: http://www.zestforbirds.co.za
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