Young Grey Heron

The young Heron was straight over this morning and got a fair bit of whitebait, before she washed her beak and flew back. The male was waiting at his usual spot and got his pollock and sardines. There was no sign of the other female though. This afternoon the male flew over and joined the young one. I expected trouble but there was none. I shared some whitebait between them until the young one flew over to the side of the loch. I followed her round and saw that she had landed next to the other female. When the male tried to join them the young one chased him up the loch then returned. When I started to feed them the young one had one bit of whitebait then let the other female eat the rest, even bits that landed in front of her. She seemed to be standing on guard while the older female ate. It really seemed to be a hierarchical thing. I am now convinced this is her mother or related in some way to her. I am not sure how hierarchical relationships work with heron but will find out. I continued on and fed the male his sardines. The crow was around both times and seemed very happy with his biscuits!