Herons are tall, a bit gangly and remind me of old men, with their grey, black and white plumage and long thin legs. Yet I never seem to tire of seeing them and a visit to Stocker’s Lake is always improved by such a sighting.
I’ve seen them up close sitting on a canal boat, afar in their heronry or on the bank of a lake. I’ve seen them in treetops and in flight. I've seen them from many different angles.
On one visit I was lucky enough to watch one suddenly strike down and catch a fish which it then proceeded to swallow whole, headfirst. The photos I hurriedly took are good, but not great.
It is a bird that I have photographed a lot though, an interesting combination of angles and curves. They can grow to 1 metre high but their wingspan can be twice that and yet they only weigh 1- 2 kgs.
When hunting they often stand still for long periods of time, a photographer’s delight, though as I saw when they do move, they can be very fast.
Their flight is slow compared to many other birds, again helpful to the amateur bird snapper like me. They fly with their necks curved and feet extended at the back with their wingtip feathers curving up to the sky.
I’m not sure I would call them beautiful but they are striking, partly because of their size.
The faces and eyes are in fact slightly odd with often slightly bulgy eyes and a wispy ‘beard’ on their beak.
However, the feathers are beautiful
They are solitary birds for most of the year, the exception being during their breeding session when they gather in the trees on one side of the lake with the nests high off the ground and away from harm’s way.
One of Stocker’s Lake’s claim to fame is that it has the largest heronry in Hertfordshire.
The heronry itself is too far away for me to photograph them well. Even with my longest lens they and their nests are tiny (and out of focus). You can see them and the egrets and cormorants who nest nearby with the naked eye or better, through a pair of binoculars.
I have occasionally created photobooks and thinking about what photos to feature in this blog makes me realise that I have probably got enough shots to do a book just of herons.
And perhaps i could include some more playful, artistic ones, including this one which a friend suggested i should perhaps turn into a bird lovers Valentine's Day card
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