The large birds usually breed in southern Europe but the RSPB has revealed that a pair have made their home on the Dungeness peninsula, Kent, and have managed a UK first by hatching eggs there.

Experts said the purple heron is one of the species likely to be setting up home in southern Britain as climate change pushes wildlife further north.

Visitors to the nature reserve will be able to see the pair of herons nesting but the RSPB have a round-the-clock species protection team in place to give the birds the best chance of raising their young.