I take my mum for a day out to Muncaster Castle, Cumbria every year. She loves the gardens although we do not get round everything as she is 82 and tires easily, even though we take the wheelchair. Muncaster is also known for its owl conservation work but we did not get to see them as Mother is not interested. I generally have another visit later in the year to see them and the rest of the gardens..
I am sure some of you know this. Muncaster looked after a sick heron for a while in 1994 and when they released it, they continued to feed it once a day, throwing the day old chicks used to feed the owls, on a field at the front of the house. As the owl keepers describe it, "the heron told all his friends" and more and more herons gathered over the years to share in the feast. Last year we counted 39 herons but yesterday there were about 15. The most they have ever had was just over 40 I believe. Usually buzzards appear but wait to steal the food from the herons as they fly into the trees. No buzzards yesterday I'm afraid.
WAITING IN THE TREES AT 4PM
GROUP OF HERONS
DIFFERENCE OF OPINION
LANDING
If you get a chance it is a great day out and they fly the owls at 2.30pm each day.
Kind regards Jane.
Thanks Woodpecker
Yes, it is an interesting story. I can remember visiting Muncaster years ago, I think in the 1960's and there was a small zoo, I remember feeling sorry for some small bears in a pit. [ I have confirmed that I am not imagining this :-) ] Luckily, we are always improving how we interact with and conserve wildlife and the zoo is no more. Now they have ponds, meadows and other wildlife areas, much better.
Unknown said: GrahamC : I am so pleased you liked the photos and are a fan of herons. You really must put some of your photos on here, I bet they are amazing. I am sure you would love the spectacle of 38+ Herons feeding, as they are usually such solitary birds.
GrahamC : I am so pleased you liked the photos and are a fan of herons. You really must put some of your photos on here, I bet they are amazing. I am sure you would love the spectacle of 38+ Herons feeding, as they are usually such solitary birds.
Yes, love your photos and stories! I sometimes see a lot of GHs down in Barnes WWT but not nearly as many as that. And whilst visiting Rye Meads this year I saw a pair flying together. Never seen that.
Here are a few of my piccies:
Grey Heron
Lave Heron
Litte Blue HeronStriated Heron
Hope you like them!
Best wishes, Graham
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My goodness Graham, I'd no idea there were so many different sorts of heron. What brill photos. That Blue Heron is fabulous.
I spotted one in the Isle of Wight, fishing in the sea, which surprised me. I've never seen that before.
Cheers, Linda.
See my photos on Flickr
Great set of pics Jef!! I saw this on one of the 'Nature's calendar' programs!! Must be a real sight and sound with so many herons!
Lovely pics Sparrow & Graham too!
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
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Fabulous photos Graham. Like Sparrow, I had no idea of the different types. I love the grey heron in its natural habitat, well it looks more natural to me than in a field! Apart from at Muncaster, I have only seen solitary herons.
I googled the Lave heron, does it only live on the Galapagos Islands, I only scanned the information? The blue heron is a gorgeous colour and the Striated heron has really unusual markings.
Where did you take the photos? Were they all in one particular area? Thank you for posting them, I do like them very much.
Thank you MarJus, yes it is a 'real sight and sound' as you say, especially when the buzzards come along to pinch the food.
I must have missed the Nature's Calendar programmes, when and what channel were they on and, more importantly, are they still being shown? :-)
It was on BBC2 a few weeks back! A repeated series and I missed most of them! Only made aware by the Hare Preservation Trust of which I'm a member as hares were featured one day! I recorded it as it was on in the day time and recorded the remainder of the series as I enjoyed it so much!
Can't find any info on whether it's on now or not (should look at the TV program in more detail!!) but here's a link to the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/naturescalendar/
Thanks Jef, I shot the Lava and the Striated Herons in the Galapagos and the Little Blue in Tobago.
A couple of good photos but I also have dozens of poor ones from these places :(Great places to visit!
Best Wishes, Graham
Sparrow: wonderful photo as usual. I would imagine it is very unusual to see herons at the seaside? However, the more I learn about birds and wildlife, the more I realise my ignorance about them is immense.
MarJus: Thank you very much for the link, I will investigate. Hopefully there will be DVDs available!
Susan H said: I spotted one in the Isle of Wight, fishing in the sea, which surprised me. I've never seen that before.
I know, I always associate them with the canal. I too was surprised to see several when I visited Speke and Garston Coastal Reserve, fishing in the Mersey Estuary. I guess fish is fish is fish.
Pipit