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Over the years I have observed the resident birds on our river.
The Heron has always been present and makes for good photos, standing sentinel like and rarely moving.
Don't be fooled by this pose, the reflexes on this species are lighting fast when it comes to catching food.
Anything that's alive is on the menu, fish or fowl, anything goes with this character.
Here are some of the images I captured out with his normal sentinel stance. Some people don't believe they eat ducklings, the images below should dispel that thought.
The Mother duck could only watch as the heron swallowed it alive !
This bird is feared by others, especially when their young are around.
Penny and Duke have almost completed the regrowth of new feathers and should be able to fly within days, they are looking good.
Meanwhile the ducklings are little sleeping beauties.
The Heron as always, is on the lookout for anything edible - be it fish or waterfowl.
The feeding of the waterfowl at Merryton bridge is attracting quite a following, and I don't just mean people.
The Heron and Moorhen are now frequently in the vicinity too.
Not to mention my Pigeon pal as well !
Some people think Mother ducks are poor at looking after their ducklings. In my experience this is certainly not the case. I have seen them attack every kind of bird that threatens their young. I recall some years ago when Popeye our resident Cob decided to get too close to a brood in the middle of the river, the mother duck was having none of it and flew at him whacking him on the neck !
Only two days ago I saw the same thing again - only this time the threat was the Heron. If they get close support from their partners they are more successful at rearing a brood, but this is the exception.
Pleasant Autumn sunshine and a rise in temperature, made for a pleasant day on the riverside.
The Heron looked good against a golden river, and the Little Grebe was busy catching tiddlers.
A surprise visitor was a Pink foot goose which has been hanging around the island for several days.
Probably wounded by a wildfowl shooter and paddled it's way to the safety of the river.
Maybe the word is getting around that the Swans island is a safe haven.
The Riverside is becoming a little more active, with returning fish catchers on the go.
The River Nairn Swans and Waterfowl Trust will be releasing 12 ducklings and their Mother next week.
Hopefully they will be too big for most predators, and should be able to fly fairly soon.
What a difference a day makes, it has been a glorious sunny day with a real feel of spring in the air.
All sorts seemed to be taking to the air today, a microlight aircraft, the Heron, and I even saw my first butterfly of the year.
While inspecting the remedial work carried out on the island Moat, I noticed the Heron sunning itself on the Island.
It was also a perfect day to release the rehab rock dove, after 2 weeks intensive care his ruptured air sac was finally healed !
I let him go this morning but he returned briefly this evening for a meal in the aviary.
New Trust member, Barry Searle sent in a couple of nice shots of the Heron the other day.
Barry is a keen photographer and is a regular on the riverside and around Nairn. He also sent me a pic of the new cygnet arrival that seems to have taken up residence in the quarry pool at the Golf View Hotel.
Have a feeling it is Solo's sibling that was dumped in the river by the parents a few weeks back, looks about the same age.
It made a refreshing change to see the Links ducklings getting a lesson from Mum on how to hassle a duckling Killer.
The Heron was doing a spot of Salmon Parr fishing when the ducklings decided to inspect what was going on.
They got a close up of that deadly beak and the speed at which it can operate !
The Heron missed out and decided to move to pastures new, only to be followed by the inquisitive ducklings.
Sequence of distance pics tells the story.
Herons have been pretty well absent from the lower river for some time, but now they are back on a daily basis. The parr are the main attraction heading downstream at the moment. This week I will have to say goodbye to my beautiful woodpigeon pals, it will be time for them to leave the safety and security of the Aviary and fend for themselves.
They are now acclimatised and have learned to peck around for food. It has been an enlightening and heartwarming experience, rearing them for the past few weeks.
They are friendly affectionate and gentle doves, I will miss them.
It's well over 6 weeks since I've seen any Herons down the lower river. This is unusual because this area was a favoured fishing spot for 2 of our regular herons. I wonder if the Mink or some other predator has killed them ? I know one of the herons
used to frequent the Swans Island and stand in the tall grass preening itself. This makes me wonder if a Mink has got it there, for this is where I found a dead Khaki Duck just a few weeks ago. I am told that there is still a heron up river but we used to have at least 4 of them on the lower stretch. The pics show our colourful birds earlier in the year.
