Grey Heron Chick again...

Today there was again much sibling rivalry among the Valentines Park Grey Heron chicks. When I arrived to check up on them all three were on their tree and one adult flew up from the lake at that moment, settling high above them. They were making an HORRENDOUS noise and a dog having his walk was upset by them and would not stop barking, to add to the cacophony of sound! One chick flapped about around the nest while the other two were scrabblig, fighting, squawking and flapping, in the above ivy covered branches.

Eventually, one- I guess the one who has already left the nest on several occasions- struggled up to where his parent was sitting. He did some more squawking and flapping but was not welcomed. He gave up and later climbed to the very top of the sycamore tree, perching on the dead branches which emerge from the ivy before flying down to the log in the water where he fished yesterday. I will just show you some images of the chick on his final perch, silhouetted against the sky:

Grey Heron Family Again!

For those who are tiring of my Heron Obsession I apologize- but each time I plan to focus on trees there is a development in the heron family that I cannot ignore!

Today I got a shock when instead of two heron chicks I saw THREE- two on the nest and one on their branch, the evicted one having returned...


However, the threesome didn't last long as soon the fledged one (assuming it was him) flew down to the island's shore, where he landed on a log in the water:



Here he proceeded to search for food like an old-timer:


And here he plays at being Narcissus!



And here he seems to believe he is a Duck...


Now when I first arrived, I had spotted a Heron lurking high in the foliage of a large island tree, and rightly guessed it was one of the parent birds. Suddenly, he (or she) came swooping down to land on the chick's log. He immediately went wild, flapping his wings and making loud squawks- a big baby again!




The two stayed together for sometime, moving around and fishing for food:


Finally, the parent decided it was time to leave and flew up into a nearby tree:


where he sat until he REALLY decided it was time to leave and flew off the tree and into the distance...


The fledgeling carried on with his work and I reluctantly left, leaving him in the water and his two siblings on their nest and branch...

Eviction in Heron's Nest

As I have said before, one cannot afford to get emotionally involved with wildlife...

Yesterday there was discord in the Grey Heron's nest: when I arrived the three mature chicks were prancing up and down on their branch. Then one of them started to climb their ivy-covered tree, jumping from branch to branch and clambering through the ivy in an ungainly fashion until he reached a very high position:



After some time he evidently decided it was time to return to the comfort of his nest and started to make his way down the tree...


and this was when the trouble began: his two siblings started to be extremely aggressive, squawking, flapping their wings wildly and stretching up serpentine necks, showing him very clearly that he was not welcome in his nest:






It really was disturbing to watch...he kept making new attempts but every time received the same unwelcoming reception. One of the two nest-defending birds then started mounting the tree himself. They both disappeared in the ivy at the back of the tree where I could only see occasional wild beatings of wings.

Eventually, the ostracized bird retreated to another high position on the tree, seeming to give up. And this was the last I saw of him...


Today I anxiously returned: just two conquering birds on the branch and an empty nest as I had expected. I felt quite desolate!



While watching them, I became aware of a movement in the undergrowth on the islands' shore not far from the nest. It turned out to be two herons. They were difficult to see in the foliage but I reckon one was a parent bird and the other the evicted chick.




Well, I expect my next heron report will be to say the birds have flown. I will miss them.

Grey Heron Chicks Prepare for Take-off

Well, you can hardly call the Valentines' Park Grey Heron siblings "chicks" any more- they are enormous! These last few days they have really being "branching out" as they experiment manoeuvring along their branch and spreading their wings. They look as if they will take-off at any moment.

First, here they are inter-relating out of the nest:





and here one of them intrepidly explores the extremities of the branch- often nearly losing his balance:






But he's not quite ready to go, so flies back into his nest...


And now for a few oddities- the cartoon quality of all birds always appeals to me...




Now, the question is: will they still be in their nest tomorrow?

Patterns of Ivy

Although Ivy can cause problems to the trees it entwines, there is something romantic about it, in a sort of Pre-Raphaelite way. One of my early memories is of watching a Buzzard's nest in an ivy-covered Oak tree in Herefordshire.

At the beginning of this week I spent a few days in a small village near Bath. There I was fascinated not by the romanticism but by the architectural quality of the tracery-like patterns formed by the Ivy on this tree:




Whereas the ivy on this next tree contributed to a totally English romantic May image: