Young Grey Heron

As I was nearing the entrance to the loch this morning I glanced up to the roof of one of the tenements that border the park area. The young Heron was standing right on the top glancing down the road (she was getting a bit of hassle from some gulls but was just ignoring them). As soon as she saw me she flew off towards the park, I was dreading her coming down to land in the street. When I got to the park she was on top of the dovecote. She flew down but before she could land she spotted a Jack Russell running towards her. She flew back to the dovecote and watched and waited until the man and his dog were heading round the loch at which point she flew down to me. I gave her her fish as quick as possible in case there were any other interruptions. As soon as she was finished she took off up the loch.

In other news I finally managed to get an out of print copy of The Herons Handbook. It seems to confirm that the young Heron is female based on her height and overall size. It also places her as still being juvenile probably a 2nd Autumn bird which would make her about a year and 10 months.