The first Night Heron that we ever saw was at WWT Slimbridge. We had to climb aboard a Land Train, a trailer pulled behind a tractor, and were taken out to a far flung spot on the reserve to a nettle filled ditch. There we disembarked and were directed to an area of the overgrown water course and told that the bird was in there somewhere. Four hours later we glimpsed a tip of the bill and then an eye as the Heron moved ever so slightly in the vegetation. And that was it!
Our next encounter with a Night Heron was of one flying out of its roost just as darkness descended one evening in Cornwall. The name Night Heron is given because generally the species are active at night and tend to roost in thick vegetation or trees during the day. Our next view came near Nuneaton with a bird that was well secreted in trees about four hundred metres away at Seeswood Pool. Our best view of the species had been of one in a park in the centre of Cheltenham in August 2019, when we finally saw the whole bird in the early morning light. Over the past twenty years or so we had dipped quite a few Night Herons too proving how hit and miss it can be when trying to see what is a generally secretive and elusive bird.
Roll on to last Thursday when photographs emerged of a Black-crowned Night Heron seen on the River Calder near Ossett in West Yorkshire. There had been some other reports of the species through the preceding few days from other places in the UK so it seemed as if there was a bit of an influx of the birds. On Friday the original finder and poster of the Night Heron posted more photos on BirdGuides, but this time mentioned there were two birds involved. Local birders investigated and corroborated the sightings on Friday evening, sending the WhatsApp chatter into overdrive. Night Herons showing really well was unusual and the fact that they were was of great interest.
Our preliminary plans for the Easter Saturday had been to travel into Surrey and try for a long staying Great Grey Shrike but the chance of seeing not one but two Night Herons was too good an opportunity to pass up so we rose early and hit the A43 and M1 north for the two and half hour journey. I knew that our good friends and eager year listers, Kev and Kyle would be going too and that they'd keep us informed of developments once they got there although in truth we'd only be half an hour or so behind so we'd be totally committed anyway. We were halfway there when confirmation was received that the birds were still present so it would hopefully be a wise decision to change our plans.
Parking was easy on the road by an industrial site. We crossed the river via a footbridge and headed north along a good track. We noted our first House Martin of the year high overhead along with several Sand Martins. All was good and easy going until we spotted a barrier ahead. In an effort to stop motorcyclists from tearing up and down the riverbank, a farmer had towed an tanker trailer into position and jammed it up against the fence that safeguarded a railway. This left a very narrow gap to squeeze through and an awkward climb up and over the towing bar. I just about made it through by breathing in, a lot, but still managed somehow to decouple my camera and lens while doing so. Luckily the camera wedged in against the trailer and didn't fall to the ground. Between me and another chap we helped Mrs Caley through as well. I paused to regain some composure after discovering the trailer had tried to steal my trousers from me during the crossing. I also wondered how some of the even heftier birders than myself got through that obstacle. Unfortunately the wife of the chap who helped push Mrs Caley through was too elderly and infirm to be able to get through. I felt awful for her and offered her a piggy back but she, probably wisely, declined. We could now see the twitchers ahead and a quick scan of the trees on the opposite bank even revealed one of the Night Herons (on the extreme right, above the plastic, in the photo below).
By the time we arrived at the riverside, I of course already knew where one of the Night Herons was so instantly got about securing some record shots. Next I set up the scope for Mrs Caley and then greeted our mates and congratulated them on their lifer. Then it was a quick scour of the river bank for the other Heron which soon revealed itself. Fifteen minutes after arriving and parking, and both of the Night Herons were in the bag!
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| Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) |
Attending a twitch always generates the same gamut of emotions but there are of course two possible outcomes. There is the nervous anxiety of wondering whether the bird will still be there or not, the excitement as you make your way to the bird, more anxiety because of the fear the bird will disappear before you get there, increased tension as you try to get on the bird and then either great relief when you spot the target or extreme disappointment some hours later when it's obvious that you're not going to see it. Once the bird has been seen then it's time to relax and take things more leisurely, watch the bird and look for the best photographic opportunities. This was an easy twitch and the outcome wasn't ever in doubt. The Night Herons were easy subjects, they moved slowly and offered multiple chances at grabbing decent shots and views.
The two birds hadn't chosen a particularly picturesque stretch of the River Calder. No that that was their fault. This section of the Calder was strewn with rubbish, presumably from a waste disposal centre on the other side of the river. There was plastic snagged on the branches of overhanging trees and more plastic in the shape of bottles and more washed up on the banks. I wondered as the birds picked their way through the flotsam if the river is subject to regular clean-ups by the adjacent businesses where the rubbish originates from, and my guess is probably not. The amount of rubbish that lines our roads and rivers and just about everywhere else these days is reaching astronomical proportions. It's a relatively recent development too, when I was younger the country was a far cleaner place. The Night Herons of course, weren't bothered and picked their way nimbly through the detritus.
Black-crowned Night Herons are birds that breed mainly in Mediterranean countries after wintering in Africa. Any Night Herons that are seen in Britain are overshoot migrants, and these two were probably helped here, along with several other species recently like the unprecedented influx of Alpine Swifts, by the strong southerly airflow of the past month. These two Night Herons were adults, stocky birds with blue-grey back and heads (looks darker at distance) and clean whitish under parts. Each bird sported white plumes on the back of the head. One bird had three of the extravagant extra feathers while the other appeared to just have the one which was also noticeably shorter. Apparently females have shorter plume feathers than males and also fewer of them so these two birds could be a potential breeding pair.
The bird, with the more elaborate plumes, that had been stood on a riverside tree branch decided it would investigate the river more closely so dropped down to the bank. When in stealth mode all Herons move with much deliberation and these Night Herons are no different. The bird we watched in Cheltenham back in 2019 stood stock still for almost forty minutes before suddenly darting forward to snare a fishy morsel. These two birds were as patient but to my knowledge didn't catch any food while we were there so would need to be.
We watched the two birds at length, Mrs Caley through the scope while I explored every angle to get different shots with the camera. There was a moment of jeopardy when a Mink was spotted running along the bank, behind one of the Night Herons and within a few feet of it. The Night Heron was well aware of it of course but just stood there looking alert but relatively unalarmed and made no move to exit the potential danger zone. A minute or so later there was a commotion in the raft of debris next to the Heron and suddenly a Moorhen exploded out of it and scuttled away over the river, presumably it must have come close to being a Mink's breakfast. We'd go on to see the Mink a few more times during the morning but unfortunately it eluded my camera lens.
After the initial hazy start to the morning the sun had burst forth and the light became much brighter. The Night Herons were largely in the shade of the opposite bank and vegetation though resulting in low shutter speeds but with views like I was getting I wouldn't dare complain about that. If I couldn't fill my boots here then I never would.
One of the Herons, maybe disturbed by the Mink or maybe by an over eager photographer who scrambled down the riverbank in front of us, fluttered up into a small bank side tree. I was too slow to capture it in flight, I'm still struggling with the slight delay that my Canon R7 has in "firing up", so only managed to get a view of its as it landed.
A few minutes later it would readjust its position again and fly once more. I was quicker the second time around but still didn't quite get any top grade photos. Perhaps I should have ramped up the ISO on the camera to get faster shutter speeds but I prefer less grainy images. At least the blur in the wing motion represents the movement.
For a moment the two Night Herons appeared to be interested in each other when one "chased" the other through the trees. Well, the "chaser" was interested in the other but the love wasn't returned since the recipient of the attention clearly wasn't gripped by the attention at all and kept the other at wings reach. I can work out which of the birds was the potential male of the two. Not only had I seen two Night Herons in the same place but now I had some images to prove they were together.
With the warming of the day, the Night herons appeared to be less interested in finding food and with the potential love cooled, both retreated into the higher branches of the trees. They kept close company, but not too close, one in one tree, the other in a small bush about twenty metres away. Both presented ample and superb opportunities for photography, it was just necessary to manoeuvre in order to get the clearest views through the branches. In the bright sunshine the grey of the back and head feathers transformed into lush slate blues and greens.
The most distinctive characteristic of the Night Herons other than the usual Heron features such as the long bill and long legs was the bright red eyes which stare piercingly back at you. It would have been easy to spend much longer taking more and more photos of the birds but after an hour or so of the birds showing so openly there were signs that the birds were becoming restless of being in many spotlights and were retreating back into some privacy in the tree foliage. We took that as a sign to leave them to it.
The squeeze through the tanker trailer didn't seem as bad on the way out, mainly because we elected to remove all optical equipment before breathing in and climbing over it. We had other plans, not least to find somewhere nice for a coffee and breakfast. We found a decent little cafe in Methley just a few miles from our intended destination and second place to visit for the day, the RSPB reserve at St. Aidan's, a few miles from Leeds. The site was formerly a massive open cast coal mine which has now been restored to a natural wetland reserve. It is famous for being home to a number of pairs of breeding Black-necked Grebes. We have visited the reserve a few times over the years, usually to twitch, and with very mixed results. We dipped a Franklins Gull in May 2021 but made up for it by scoring with a very rare Long-toed Stint in October the same year. Last year we travelled to twitch an extremely showy Spotted Crake but in the four hours we spent there, we only had a two-second view. The huge mining machine that sits next to the visitor centre is home to a pair of Little Owls which we had seen on each of our previous visits.
To cut a long story of a long walk short, we didn't fare too well in the warm sunshine. We only saw one Black-necked Grebe and it was very distant so the hoped for photos didn't materialise. Apart from a brief flight view of a Bittern (new for the year) we didn't see anything of note. Even the Little Owls were absent, apparently having been disturbed by some workmen checking the mining machine over just before we arrived. The only photos I took were of a fine male Reed Bunting and a couple of the lovely Stock Doves that also nest on the mining relic.
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| Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) |
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| Stock Dove (Columba oenas) |
But we drove home happy. Who wouldn't be delighted after having seen two fantastic Black-crowned Night Herons?
Year List additions;
185) House Martin, 186) Black-crowned Night Heron, 187) Bittern
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