Wednesday 29 October 2008

Four Herons ( And Possibly a Funeral)

Husband is a walk fanatic (as well as a leaf sweeping maniac) and usually takes himself off for a walk every day, if not playing tennis or golf with a load of wrinklies.

When he comes back from these walks I always ask him if he has seen anything interesting - if he hasn't he usually makes something up just to amuse me. However a couple of days ago he came back and reported he had seen four herons standing in the middle of a ploughed field with a kestrel worrying them from above. He was not spinning me a yarn. Neither of us have ever seen four herons grouped together let alone being mobbed by a kestrel.

Husband does not like seeing possible death in the wild so he swiftly moved on.

9 comments:

DayPhoto said...

Ugh! I would have moved on too. I wished I could get meself up and take meself off on a walk, I would probably loose weight and feel better!

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

blogthatmama said...

I wonder what happened? Do you know?

Lindsay said...

No - Husband did not know what happened - but on the way back there was no sign of the herons.

Gill - That British Woman said...

I am surprised that a kestrel would attack Herons?

Gill in Canada

mountainear said...

Hmm, how curious. I'm not sure a kestrel would be a match for one heron - let alone 4. Think long pointy dagger-like beak.

I do wish he'd stayed to see the outcome.

cheshire wife said...

I would have thought that there would have been safety in numbers.

Lane Mathias said...

Four herons together must have been quite a sight. Hopefully too much for a kestral.


I like that hubby tells you what he's seen everyday:-)

Unknown said...

A kestrel's largest prey would probably be the size of your thumb - so four herons...? I think the boot would be on the other foot more than likely. But how very interesting - is there a heronry around there?

Jay said...

I've often seen a pair of herons standing in a field, usually at a little distance from each other. Never four at one time.

I would think the kestrel would be in more danger from the herons rather than the other way round. They're quite small birds and the herons beaks are deadly and accurate.