Good Value Birds

Nature is wild and varied, it ranges from the small or insignificant to the large or magnificent, but within this variety, it could be said that some are better value for money than others. These species give you rewarding views and behaviour for very little effort. No need for expensive gear or exotic locations they give you the very best bang for your buck.  Garden birds such as Robins, Blackbirds, and Blue Tits are obvious candidates and they do offer a lot, but for me, I think the best value bird is the Grey Heron.

A bird in its prime

 Herons are not especially rare but not seen often enough to make any sighting a special event Herons benefit from a combination of factors that make them ideal species to watch and understand most aspects of life.

 

One of the things that I feel makes herons so fascinating is their positively prehistoric appearance, you could throw a heron back in time to the Mesozoic and it would fit in fine. They. They evoke the primitive simplicity and subtle predatory instinct of a dinosaur. Herons alongside cormorants show a great though line in the evolution of dinosaurs into birds.

 

Although unwieldy and seemingly clumsy in flight there is something endearing in the way its broad wings flap lugubriously, the way the legs stick out backward, jutting out behind it, and the way it pulls its neck in tight to the body short, is nearly comical.

In Flight

As a species, they tend to be fairly comfortable around humans. Get too close and they will definitely take flight but keep a safe distance and they are more than happy to just ignore you and carry on with their day. Give them such a chance and they will show you its complete repertoire.

 

Despite what wildlife programs might make you think predation observing a successful kill is incredibly rare. The amazing and dramatic shots of a lion taking down a gazelle represent days and days of field time and patience camera work. Herons are a voracious species and will take a range of fish amphibians and small mammals with great relish. Watching a heron hunt is like viewing a masterclass. Its slow, stealthy deliberate steps are counterbalanced by its ability to stop stock still. A practiced watcher will soon pick up on the heron’s subtle skills. The way it cocks its head to enable it to see through the reflection of the water, the positioning of the dagger-like beak poised ready to strike.

Catching a vole

Just by watching the heron’s posture, you can tell at an instant the point it spots its prey. It becomes stiff and stock still, statuesque. If it does move to reposition it does so carefully slowly and with purpose.   Finally, its head may move side to side as it focuses and accounts for the refraction in the water and then it strikes with lightning speed.

Caught

Swallowing

Swallowed

Unlike other predators which often move to a new location to eat their prey, the heron will usually swallow it there and then or pad onto the backside. I had the fortune to spot a heron take a fish, a very large fish, one that it could barely carry. I was convinced that it had "Bitten off more than it could chew", a case of eyes bigger than its stomach. But to my amazement, it managed it, and with a great gulp, it swallowed it down headfirst. You will find most swallowing animals will swallow their prey headfirst.  It makes it easier to slide down, any spines and the fins of fish all point backward, and of course fish are streamlined. The heron in question managed its mammoth feat and looked very full, I could see the bulk of the fish moving down the gullet, what must that feel like? I think a subtle companion would be a human trying to swallow a cat!

You can find this consummate predator locally on ponds, rivers, and lakes and only watching for a short period of time will give you a great deal of delight and interest. Grey Herons are a top bird.

Watching the Hunt

 The Kingfisher is acknowledged by its name alone as the King of Fishers however I feel that one other bird really deserves that title. Yes, the Kingfisher is gaudy and vibrant. Its dashing behavior and striking form show off its fantastic maneuverability and its dives are magnificent, but the true king is the Grey Heron.

There is something noble about these birds and they exude a cold calm deadliness. I have always felt Herons hold something of the prehistoric about them. Perhaps it is their piercing gaze or the scraggy look of their young but they certainly could have fitted into the ecosystem alongside those early birds of the Jurassic.

I was given cause to think about Herons today. They are not a rare sight in Warwick, in fact, the town boasts a substantial Heronry and they can be seen across the waterways from the Canal to the River, as well as taking easy meals from the fishponds of the Woodloes. This Heron was probably one I have photographed before. By the canal bridge on the Avon upstream of St Nicholas Park is a favourite haunt for this species and I often come across one fishing in the brook that enters the river here. Today I spotted him from the bridge above and so had a good view looking down on him. He was obviously fishing, he stood stock-still, then every now and again he poised in the strike pose, hunched, with his neck drawn back.

What interested me almost more than the Heron himself were the passers-by. Some walked past completely oblivious, others noticed but were uninterested, and then there were those that paused and smiled. Some stopped just a moment to watch whilst others reached for the ubiquitous mobile phone. I was heartened to see that all of them treated the bird with respect. They didn’t approach too close or move unnecessarily for the whole 20 minutes I watched him he was not disturbed once and was able to catch and eat three fish.

People passing on the bridge noticed him and went down for a closer look and a younger man with a basketball cap stopped took a few photos and then, as he moved off gave the Heron a little wave as if in thanks. Lastly, I met a couple who knew the individual, they lived close by they told me they saw the Heron regularly and had named him Henry. A fitting name for a very fine heron.

Turning back to the fishing, I have spent many hours watching both Kingfishers and Herons whilst hunting, and anecdotally I can honestly say that the Heron has a better strike rate. On one occasion some years ago, I watched a Heron down at the Saxon Mill hoover up several fish and then follow it with a bank vole! Up in Scotland, I saw a Heron catch an eel nearly as long as he was tall, wrestle with it and then swallow it.

Henry was no different today catching a sizeable wish and downing it in one.

A Hunting Heron - Voles and Fish

Over the past several years I have been fortunate to see Grey Heron on many occasions. I have monitored a colony in Warwick and often see them at St. Nicholas Park and on my patch.

This morning I watched an individual Heron for some time as it hunted on the mill pond at the Saxon Mill. I watched as it stood stock still waiting for prey. It dived forward several times and failed each time, it got me thinking about what the Herons success rate was.

As I continued to watch a marveled at how controlled and stealthy such a large bird is. It places its feet carefully and lifts them to minimise splashes. It turns its head carefully watching multiple angles and once it detects a prey moves into position to start foraging.

The heron moved from the reeded central area where it was being unsuccessful to the bank side where over hanging trees might have improved visibility.

Whilst fishing here it saw something in the rocks on the bank side and quickly darted in to grab what seemed to be a vole. In the following sequence of photos you can see that it grabbed it with the tip of its beak and then rather than swallowing immediately it took it to the water and dipped it into the river. I do not think this was to drown the prey as it was too short a time but could have made swallowing easier as straight after it gulped the vole down.

The Heron grabs the vole side on from the rocks to the left

The Heron re-orientates the vole by gripping it by the head and neck

The Heron then dips the vole into the river

The Heron the swallows the vole whole, note the bulge in the neck as it passes down the crop.

Following this meal the Heron moved out of site under some low hanging branches. Here it spent 5 or 6 minutes before a splash could be heard and it emerged on the bank carrying a substantially sized Perch. Again the Heron did not immediately swallow its prey. Instead it moved swiftly away from the bank side and quickly flew across the river to thicker reeds where it then ate the fish. It was likely worried that another predator would try and steal his food and so relocated to better cover in order to keep it.

Interested by the herons feeding habits I found a paper in Bird Study which looked at how successful herons could be. The article indicated a basic frequency of prey at 1 per 55 mins with a 50% success rate.

I reckon I watched the heron for about 20 minutes and estimated it also to have a 50% success rate but a frequency of 1 per 12.5 mins.