Black Herons?

[catten80]

Hi all,

I was in my garden on Tuesday when a couple of large birds flew past (about 20ft away) making an awful racket. They sounded and looked like herons, but they were black! I thought these were only native in Africa and we are in Norfolk! They circled and landed in a big pond behind my house where I lost sight of them. Does anyone know what they could have been? My other half thinks I'm mad lol

[The Black Rabbit]

Never heard of a black heron?!
Maybe a cormorant? (but they would only land in VERY large pond, like a lake!)
Sorry. Wish I could help more!
Doug

[stephen p]

I live in Gloucestershire and on my way home from Bath, (A46 near Tormaton)
I saw 2 Heron like birds but they were black and also making a right noise i followed the pair for as far as i could.
I could not figure out what they were i have never seen anything like it before, and can't say i,ve ever seen a Heron in that area.
It was Friday i saw them by the way.

[stephen p]

Originally Posted by The Black Rabbit

Never heard of a black heron?!
Maybe a cormorant? (but they would only land in VERY large pond, like a lake!)
Sorry. Wish I could help more!
Doug

At first i thought what i had seen was maybe a Cormorant but it was far to inland and at a closer look it was definitely not a Cormorant(also i love Cormorants so new it wasn't one)
Im still confused to waht they could of been i have searched through all my books and can't figure out what they were.
And now there has been another sighting, ok miles apart, but could they be the same Birds?

[Dan Salter]

Maybe we are into crane and stork territory?

just a longshot...i googled black and crane and there is a black necked and black crowned which could look black in flight...or a sandhill crane?...

or maybe there are some black storks?...they could be escapees. Most herons i see flying are pretty much silent?...

[The Black Rabbit]

Originally Posted by stephen p

At first i thought what i had seen was maybe a Cormorant but it was far too inland and at a closer look it was definitely not a Cormorant(also i love Cormorants so new it wasn't one)
Im still confused to waht they could of been i have searched through all my books and can't figure out what they were.
And now there has been another sighting, ok miles apart, but could they be the same Birds?

Maybe we ARE into Storks and Cranesville here after all.
Should point out though stephen p that Cormorants are an inland bird now - they are everywhere on our lakes and rivers! Though if you like them a lot, you'll know yours weren't cormorants as you suggested!
I'm afraid I have no experience in Black storks or Cranes though!
Cheers
Doug

[naturelover]

hi catten80 welcome to wab enjoy,sorry i cant answer about the black heron never come across a black one sorry.

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

What was the weather like? remember of course that if it was sunny and the you was looking into the sun birds can appear very dark so they basically could have been Heron silhouetted by the sun.

[Paul mabbott]

Cormorants are found quite a long way inland although never far from water ...

Originally Posted by stephen p

At first i thought what i had seen was maybe a Cormorant but it was far to inland and at a closer look it was definitely not a Cormorant(also i love Cormorants so new it wasn't one)
Im still confused to waht they could of been i have searched through all my books and can't figure out what they were.
And now there has been another sighting, ok miles apart, but could they be the same Birds?

[Squirrels]

I'm afraid I don't know what the birds you saw were either! Maybe it would be a good idea to contact the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) who may know more about what they could have been - if you saw a rare bird species it needs recording!