Purple Heron

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the Purple Heron at stays in or beside Goukamma Nature Reserve, Rocherpan Nature Reserve, Grootvadersbosch Nature Reserve, Vrolijkheid Nature Reserve, De Mond Nature Reserve and Garden Route National Park and other reserves. A record means a host has seen it on the property or nearby, which makes these the places to base yourself; it is never a guarantee of a sighting on any given day.

The Purple Heron is most recorded in Western Cape (59% of records), KwaZulu-Natal (18% of records), Mpumalanga (9% of records), based on 1,647 iNaturalist observations. 28 places to stay on Spekboom in Western Cape have recorded the Purple Heron on site or nearby.

The Purple Heron is recorded throughout the year, so no month is the wrong month to look for it. For the parks where hosts record it most, these are the best seasons they give. Goukamma Nature Reserve: year-round, warm Oct-Apr; Rocherpan Nature Reserve: Winter and spring for birds and flowers, Jun-Oct; Grootvadersbosch Nature Reserve: Sep-Apr, flowers Aug-Oct; Vrolijkheid Nature Reserve: Autumn and spring, Mar-May, Sep-Nov. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

The purple heron (Ardea purpurea) is a wide ranging species of wading bird in the heron family, Ardeidae. The scientific name comes from Latin ardea "heron", and purpureus, "coloured purple". It breeds in Africa, central and southern Europe, and southern and eastern Asia.