The Spread of the Phsycadelic Moorhen

When I was very young I somehow acquired a stuffed Purple Swamphen or Purple Gallinule as it was then known.  At the time we got the thing we had no idea what it was.  The Observers Book of Birds did not cover such exotica and it was known affectionately as "The Phsycadelic Moorhen".  Only when the first Peterson Guide arrived did we discover its identity and also that its grey head made it the race found in Asia.

Now for years the closest place for British birders to catch up with this species has been the Iberian Peninsula and to the far south especially Coto Donana in Spain.  More recently this spectacular bird was introduced into the Ebro Delta Spain's second great wetland.  From here these birds have moved north to the Gulf of Roses and even more recently crossed into France.  They have done so well they are now in the Camargue.

In Languedoc they are now quite regularly seen in coastal reedbeds and inland a bit near Capestang.  As elsewhere in Europe they are very difficult to see skulking in dense reeds and only occasionally showing themselves.  This species is widespread and they are certainly easier to see elsewhere.  In India I saw them feeding in the open in filthy pools by Bharatpur, and in Wester Australia we had to fend this purple pest off as it regularly jumped onto our picnic table at Herdsman's lake in Perth in an attempt to steal our lunch.

I was lucky recently to get three views in a morning in France.  One walked across the path, another got up at my feet and flew powerfully across the marsh and a third swam out and posed with a Mallard.

My photos show the latter and an Australian bird posing.

How long before they reach the UK?