A Nervous Visitor

Penny had been in the garden for a few minutes so I was more than a little surprised to see a Grey Heron had landed near the pond. It was keeping an eye on where she was but Penny couldn't see it as the greenhouse was in the way. She only noticed when it took off:

Heron Poem

Much relief this morning after my yearly check up following major cancer surgery six years ago. Once again given the all clear. I asked how long the follow ups would continue and was informed it would be for a minimum of ten years and probably longer. It is nice to know that you are not just abandoned but continuously monitored.

On checking the comments this morning it was great to receive another of Glo's (of Porcelain Rose) poems.

A heron named Harry was wishing

He’d learned the fine art of ice fishing,

For here and beyond

There was ice on each pond,

With nary a fishtail a-swishing.

He saw a few holes, which was thrilling!

Perhaps they were left from John’s drilling.

He had to admit

That his beak wouldn’t fit

And to foot the whole bill would be chilling.

He stood on the edge looking wistful

Pretending his mouth held a fistful ~

An instinctual drive

He decided to dive ~

Upended and stuck in the midstful!

Brilliant Glo and thank you so much.

No Fish Dinner Today

As I was standing by the sink in the kitchen a large grey shape glided across my view. The local Heron had come to pay a visit to see whether fish were back on the menu yet. Fortunately for the fish, and unfortunately for the Heron, the pond is still frozen over.



It stood there for a while keeping one eye on the pond and the other on me. In the end it decided there was no free meal and took off.



A bit on the blurry side but gives a good impression of just how long their wings are. From this photograph it appears to me that there is a double layer of feathers under part of each wing.

It must be very difficult in the weather conditions we have been experiencing for birds such as Kingfishers and Herons to find the food they need.

A Little Excitement

As we came back from the afternoon walk I head a loud squawk from the back of a nearby house and up flew a Grey Heron. It settled on an adjacent rooftop so I raced Bobby to the front door so I could grab the camera and try for a few shots. Luckily it was still there when I rushed out again with camera in hand. I should think the bird was a good 300 feet away so it was a fairly small section of the frame and with the dull conditions doesn't stand much enlargement.



It was still standing there when I had finished taking a few shots so I decided to set up the camcorder and managed some video of it. Dull conditions but at least the 70x zoom let me get a lot closer.



I should think it was there for over ten minutes just surveying the area. No doubt working out which fish pond to try next. The soundtrack I call 'Moody' and was something I threw together this morning while I was experimenting with a program called Acoustica and some Ejay Dance wav files.

Just as I was taking the camera in there was a sudden flash of movement as a Sparrow Hawk dived in the centre of one of my small trees not 12 feet from me and grabbed a Sparrow. When it saw me it took off with its prey. Flying very low it was just missed by a passing car and then only as the driver braked. As usual - no photo but another rare bit of excitement for this sleepy village..