Tag Archives: nesting

Nesting Grey Herons

Grey Heron with nesting material (Photo:Tim Jones)
Grey Heron with nesting material (Photo:Tim Jones)

Quite a cold afternoon’s walk today; but the sun was up, the golfers were out, and so too were our local herons.  I snapped this one just before sunset.   He’s a Grey Heron (Aredea cinerea) and common in the UK.  (I keep an eye out for the Blue Heron and super-rare Purple Heron, that occasionally visit the UK, but have seen neither.)

Grey Heron (Photo:Tim Jones)
Grey Heron (Photo:Tim Jones)
Grey Heron (Photo:Tim Jones)
Grey Heron (Photo:Tim Jones)

Herons nest in colonies, and this one looked like it contained three birds: two adults flying back and forth to the nest, and a smaller ‘second winter’ juvenile that stayed put (the one on the left of the pair in these shots).

Grey Heron (Photo:Tim Jones)
Grey Heron (Photo:Tim Jones)

I was surprised to see nest-building this time of year, but the hardy heron’s extended breeding season sees them happily dropping eggs in late February.  That’s not to say the smaller bird here is a chick – they leave the nest by 10 weeks, and this one’s plumage is too mature.  I’m guessing it just wasn’t his/her shift for twig collection.

Grey Heron (Photo:Tim Jones)
Grey Heron (Photo:Tim Jones)

They’re fantastic birds to watch.  Very noisy and, to my eyes, especially dinosaury.  I also like the retracted neck position adopted for steady flight; it’s like their head goes along for the ride in upper-deck business class.  It’s also one way to tell herons apart from cranes.

Grey Heron flying with retracted neck (Photo:Tim Jones)
Grey Heron flying with retracted neck (Photo:Tim Jones)

The Heron’s nest is a large flat platform of twigs in the top of a tree.  The males do most of the collecting, the females most of the building.

Grey Heron (Photo:Tim Jones)
Grey Heron (Photo:Tim Jones)
Grey Heron (Photo:Tim Jones)
Grey Heron (Photo:Tim Jones)

These last two shots of the nest show an adult bird on the right, and what I suspect is a ‘second winter’ juvenile on the left (tell me if you think differently).   Despite the stance, there was no feeding going on here.

Grey Herons: adult (right) with 'second winter' juvenile (left) (Photo:Tim Jones)
Grey Herons: adult (right) with 'second winter' juvenile (left) (Photo:Tim Jones)
Grey Herons: adult (right) with 'second winter' juvenile (left) (Photo:Tim Jones)
Grey Herons: adult (right) with 'second winter' juvenile (left) (Photo:Tim Jones)

It’s days like this that justify carrying heavy cameras and lenses around on the off-chance something might show up.   Next phase is to return with the tripod and get some HD movies of these guys. Watch this space!