Ever since B put in a garden pond we have had occasional visits from Grey Herons although they are usually very wary and rarely linger more than a few minutes.
Yesterday morning my daughter spotted one and, presumably because of hunger due to the cold weather and ice, this particular individual was far less wary than usual and ignored any sign of movements from the house so we were able to get good views.
The first few photos were taken through a rather dirty kitchen window!
So I moved upstairs where the bedroom window is a lot cleaner and watched the heron stalking round the pond.
We don't have fish in the pond just frogs and common newts and, as I had seen no sign yet of frogs moving around, I didn't think the heron would catch anything. I was wrong - its patience paid off and it obviously has much better eyesight than me as with one swift movement it removed a frog from the pond.
Warning! The next few photos are a bit graphic so if you are squeamish it might be best not to view the pictures.
The first frog
Swallowed!
And then it caught another one.
At this stage B, who is rather protective and proud of the amount of newts and frogs attracted by the pond, decided it was time he went a walk round the garden and the heron flew off. It did return several times during the course of the day but I didn't see it catch anything else.
Photos taken with the Panasonic Lumix FZ 330
16 comments:
That's a great series of shots....if you aren't an amphibian!
Fantastic pictures! How marvellous to have such a wonderful bird in the garden.
We have had one stealing fish (before we were up) in the past. Had it come for frogs recently it would have had a bonanza fishing morning!
Oh, no poor frogs! I suppose all animals and birds will take food where they can in this cold weather to get them through each day. There must be more frogs in your pond for the heron to return. I haven't seen any frog activity in our pond yet and at the moment it is frozen over. I did break the ice in the bird bath and repace with fresh water for the birds our litle one legged robin was there immediately to drink water:)
Simon Douglas Thompson - Thank you - you have to feel sorry for the frogs!
Countryside Tales - Thank you - it was good to get good views.
Bovey Belle - Thank you - we have never had fish although OH has always been keen on sticklebacks but I've never found anywhere you can buy them and wouldn't collect them from the wild. Yes, you did have a lot of frogs recently.
Rosie - Thank you. We felt sorry for frogs too. Our pond is now iced over - will try and break some later - forgot to put a ball in there to try and stop it freezing over and must do the same to bird bath.
I love these photos, Herons are such a favourite of mine!
Pam - Thanks so much. Yes love them here too - so primeval :)
I always think of Herons as being rather regal somehow. Fine shots you got there, well done. Shame about the Frogs though.
Toffeeapple - Thank you and yes they are regal - it is when they fly that to me they look a bit prehistoric!
A great series of shots. I have had the occasional visit in the past but as I don't have an upstairs it has always spotted me before I could get a reasonable shot or two.
Great photos and the heron is very impressive, such magnificent plumage and colouring. A few unlucky frogs, but such is life and death in a backyard pond.
Midmarsh John - Thank you. I would never have been able to get photos from past visits - I think the cold and hunger made this one far less wary than usual.
Ian - Thank you. They are beautiful birds and, as you say, herons do need to eat.
Well, there certainly were Common Frogs in your pond... I hope there are still some there! We watched a Heron flying over today as we often do, but the pond in this case is over the neighbour's fence so we don't really see what it gets up to...
We had a Tawny Owl hooting here this evening just as it was getting dark at about 5.15, the earliest hoots we have heard, so I guess the snow had something to do with this.
Caroline Gill - Thank you. Yes, I hope too there are some frogs left! Won't know for a while as I suspect this freezing cold weather will have delayed spawning this year!
Great news about the Tawny Owl - we have only seen/heard them here twice in the past.
It was so great to get the Heron in your garden, and the photos are very good. Just a shame it had a few frogs.... not sure what food you could leave out for Herons !! :)))
Amanda xx
Amanda Peters - thank you. It was a real thrill that it stayed around for quite a while. Ha ha! re: what food to leave out :)
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