GREY Heron
Ardea cinerea
It was a long night. I had spent all day in the wired hide, photographing kingfisher. In my wisdom I had also booked an overnight stint in the hide, in the hope of getting both grey heron and otter. Those of you who know Tom’s setup will be aware there is a mainline LNER railway line from Hull to London Kings Cross adjacent to the site. This is not normally a problem as the trains stop around midnight; however, tonight – of all nights – they were carrying out maintenance on the overhead power gantries! For three hours they worked; sound appears to travel more at night (it doesn’t, but there is less ambient noise), and I could hear every word they were saying and every bang of the hammer! And that was in addition to the halogen lighting!
So, I had swirling mist but no herons nor otters! It was around 5am, and I had all but written off the night when, to my surprise, the heron paid a visit. I had around 45 minutes of grey heron! Tom’s lighting setup gives you the opportunity for some really atmospheric heron pictures – fortunately I had a heavy rain shower, which created a starlit night. I appreciate the images are not unique – that is one of the downsides of hide photography – but it was a good night. Alas, no otter, but that’s a good reason for going back!
