RATHER like us, the heron is very much a creature of habit, having two or three favoured fishing spots which he faithfully adheres to.

He may spend up to an hour or so in one spot and only move on to his next location if he draws a blank. Standing stock still, he peers into the water searching for prey, gradually lowers his head then stabs onto his unfortunate victim. He can catch quite large prey like the perch (illustrated) but I once saw him latch onto a foot long chub, which was too much for the heron to handle and rapidly wriggled free.

Nature Notes: Storm kept birds quiet

Herons feed on a variety of prey, including small birds, water voles, frogs, frogspawn and even dragonflies if they approach close enough.

Some years ago, a pair of avocets bred for the first time at the London Wetland Centre but shortly after the fledglings became active, they were all taken by herons and the avocets, unsurprisingly, have not nested there again.

Nature notes: Melody or cacophony?

Herons are very early breeders and even now are refurbishing old nests, often several birds together in a heronry. I always think it odd that such seemingly ungainly birds can build nests high up in trees but clearly the strategy pays off and they are relatively safe from predators up in the canopy.