Squacco Heron

With the reserve being just a few minutes from Attenborough train station, the opportunity to finally catch up with a Squacco Heron (something I have failed to see on more than one occasion) was simply too good to resist. After a brief wait, I watched it fly in overhead and land further along the river behind the railway bridge, where it could be viewed from the grass bank below where we were standing, sat in one of the riverside Willows.


Visible as a pale blob, fishing from its favoured spot below the bridge, in the same place as the below pictures were taken







Apart from a brief appearance in the large Willow tree on the other side of the bridge, the bird mainly kept to its chosen fishing platform. Clearly not in the slightest bit bothered by the passing trains, it also seemed fairly tolerant of people, but could have probably done without photographers standing over the top of what would have been an ideal fishing platform below the bridge...

The quality of the scope views more than made up for the amount of vibration on the bridge, which proved something of a challenge when trying to get pictures.