The Second Ladybird Book of British Birds #18 – The Heron

I’ve turned to the double-page spread in The Second Ladybird Book of British Birds and their nests on The Heron:

It says:

The Heron is a very large bird, over three feet high. It spends most of its time standing quite still at the edge of the pond or river waiting for fish, catching them by a sudden dart of its long, very sharp beak and then swallowing them head first.

Here’s a juvenile Grey Heron at Daisy Nook:

It’s perfecting the art of standing still.

Forty years ago I was thrilled to see a Heron and wrote about it in my nature notebooks:

Here’s the full blog:

Heron overhead – forty years ago in my nature notebooks

I even spotted one from a train and wrote all about it in 1976:

I’m still watching this juvenile and it hasn’t moved at all. It’s uncanny.

They are wonderful when they fly:

Heron in the mist

The Ladybird text continues:

It also catches mice, voles, frogs and snakes.

Given the look in the eye of this adult, I’m glad I’m not a mouse, vole, frog or snake.