Glossy Ibis

I went to Oxford Island today with my birdwatching group. The level of Lough Neagh was very high and the surrounds were all boggy and waterlogged. Not an unusual winter scene hereabouts, but amongst the birds on display was a very rare visitor - a Glossy Ibis. It stood about two feet tall with a long downcurved beak and glossy green and purple plumage.

Normally these birds live in Southern Europe and Africa. Why this bird would exchange the marshlands of the Camargue or Costa Donana for the cold bogland of Co Armagh is indeed a mystery. Most local residents would gladly do that exchange in reverse.

Yet here the Glossy Ibis very much is. And this rare visitor has been attracting birdwatchers from across the island. So much so that the farmer whose land it was feeding on had locked the access gate, so inundated has he been by curious birders. So today we stood on the verge at Oxford Island and gazed across waterlogged meadows to where the Glossy Ibis grazed amongst swans, lapwings and golden plovers. As my feet and fingers grew cold, I felt a strange and beautiful connection with warmer climes.