Herons

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 Most weeks we see grey herons from the house Last week I saw two in flight at the same time. We are not far from water. The River Eden is about a mile away and a tributary of the Eden (Sandwath Syke) flows through one of our fields. A "syke" incidentally is the term used in Cumbria for a stream that sometimes dries up in the summer months. We have a small pond in the meadow and the surrounding farmland is often wet and subject to flooding and so we have attractive habitat for heron.










A heron in flight is an impressive bird. There is to my mind something prehistoric about them I imagine a pterodactyl must have looked a bit like this! Herons hunt by standing motionless (in shallow water usually) and spearing their prey with a sudden lunge of the beak. Herons are sociable birds and roost overnight in a heronry. I think that our birds roost near the hamlet of Smardale. I know that there certainly used to be a noted heronry there, and it survived an attempt by fishermen to shoot them in the 1980's. I haven't been able to observe the roost myself yet but am told by a local that they roost in a place called Oxenbrow Wood. A visit for another day.

Diary Notes
There is still some snow on the ground but it is milder today and rain with 50mph winds are forecast. There were three roe deer grazing two fields away this morning.
Last nights camera traps revealed a fox. This individual has a white patch on its left flank. Looking at previous captures of foxes I can  find images of foxes without the white patch so I am seeing more than one individual. A couple of buzzard directly over the house on my morning walk.


Comments

  1. David P18 February 2021 at 15:06

    We too enjoy herons flying in to Hartley Beck opposite our house

    ReplyDelete

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