So, without further ado here is blog number one!
The grey assassin, the grey heron. A bird that literally towers over its prey, the grey heron the admiral of Brockholes stands up to one metre tall and has a two metre wingspan. With a bright yellow, orange dagger like bill, this imposing bird certainly cathces the eye. Grey herons can be found year round in the UK, inhabiting all kinds of waterways including wetlands (like Brockholes), rivers, lakes, ponds and even on the coast.
Fay Ellis
When in flight the grey heron pulls its head and neck tighly in and soars through the air on its large bowed wings. Herons are a familiar sight standing by the waters edge waiting with deadly patience for unsuspecting prey, they will predate a wide range of creatures including water birds, mammals, snakes, insects and carrion. They hunt mostly at dawn and dusk when prey is plentiful.
Herons nest in a heronry high up in the tree tops, they start to breed from the age of two, in early spring. These large birds lay between three - five blue/green eggs in two day intervals, which are then incubated for up to twenty seven days. Rather unusually both parents feed the young which fledge after fifty - fifty five days. Young herons are notably duller in plumage than the mature adult birds.
Outside of the breeding season they are mostly solitary creatures, however in the winter up to sixty three thousand herons overwinter in the Uk, and they can frequently be observed standing together in large groups facing the water. Why, is not yet understood! However, it believed to be a form of social interaction.
Grey herons have an average lifespan of five years with the oldest wild bird recorded being an impressive twenty three years old! The grey heron is a truly beautiful and iconic wetland species. Make sure to pay us a visit at Brockholes and view this fabulous bird in all its magnificence for yourself.
Happy nature watching.
Mark
