The reserve made history this summer when the first ever pair of purple herons successfully nested on British soil.

The Purple Heron is a kind of bird.

Leading their horses along the solid footpaths they startled egrets and the striking purple herons.

Deeper into the forest, towering above the green trees, were bare silver boughs where purple herons nested.

The year had already seen several spoonbills and purple herons, even a cattle egret had put in a couple of appearances.

I saw glossy ibises, purple herons, white storks and black-winged stilts nesting.

A stately purple heron (above).

The more than 200 bird species that inhabit the reserve at different times of the year include kestrels, Eleonora's falcons and purple herons.

Purple Heron and Bean Goose are rare visitors.

The long neck of Purple Heron looks particularly snake-like, with more of an S-shape in flight.

Purple herons, Indian rollers and rose-ringed parakeets fish and catch insects and even kiss right in plain view.

The Purple Heron breeds in colonies in reed beds or trees close to large lakes or other extensive wetlands.

Ardea purpurea (Purple Heron)

It is larger than the Purple Heron, which it resembles in appearance, although it is larger and darker.

'There,' said Stephen, clapping his glass to with infinite satisfaction, 'the purple herons have brought off their brood again: the only pair in the three kingdoms.'

The only heron with somewhat similarly-colorful plumage characteristics, the widespread Purple Heron, is much smaller than the Goliath.

Many rare species, such as the White-tailed Eagle, Little Egret and Purple Heron, nest there.

The reserve is a breeding ground for large numbers of water birds, particularly Purple Heron, Reed Cormorant and African Darter.

The area gives home to various kinds of birds, like the Great Egret, Purple Heron, Common Spoonbill and Greylag Goose.

A large number of herons are present during the breeding season particularly the Purple Heron, the Night Heron and the Squacco Heron.

Water birds such as cormorants, white-breasted water hen, moor hen, jacanas, river tern, ringed plover, sand piper, and green and purple herons are quite common.

Other rare birds spotted here include the Purple Heron, the Pink-footed Goose, the European Honey Buzzard and the Melodious Warbler to name but a few.

So we had spent the day enjoying all that magic Minsmere has to offer - avocets and chicks, black-tailed god wits, marsh harriers soaring overhead, a heavy-flying purple heron, little terns.

The Purple Heron is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

There can be few other places in Europe which offer the wildlife art student such a plethora of interesting species; Black Necked Grebe, Spoonbill, and Purple Heron to name only a few.

The bird's scientific name is Ardea purpurea.

ARDEIDAE Ardea purpurea (Purple Heron)

The Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) is a wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, breeding in Africa, central and southern Europe, and southern and eastern Asia.