Gould states that the Squacco Heron was seen occasionally in most English counties, but especially in Norfolk and Suffolk.

The heron liked to dwell 'in the swamp, in the stagnant marsh...where the newt wriggles in the warm shallows, and the frog croaks in the rush-beds, where the buckbean flourishes...and the forget-me-not carpets the margin,....for there it finds both security and an abundant supply of food.'

An adult heron is depicted in summer plumage with Water Forget-me-not Myosotis palustris.

DISTRIBUTION: Breeds locally in south Palaearctic from Iberia and Morocco, through to Iraq, Iran, Ukraine, Turkestan; and in west, east, central and south Africa, and Madagascar. Winters mainly Africa south of the Sahara but ranges widely. Now a rare vagrant to Britain