This was one of the first birds I saw when we arrived. I couldn't believe that I would be able to see such a beautiful bird right in the middle of London! I thought it was a great blue heron because they look similar to each other--we have great blue herons in Canada. However, when I researched info on herons in the UK, I found out that their common heron is the grey heron. It's an equally beautiful bird. I saw it almost every day for the first week I was here, so I named it Nigel, even though I don't know if it's male or female. I kind of miss Nigel already, but I read that grey herons don't migrate, so hopefully he'll be back. You can view a slideshow of this beauty below.
I so enjoy learning about my surrounding environment. That's one of the reasons I got into birding to begin with is to learn about some of the critters that live near me. The more I know, the more I can appreciate them and the role they play in that environment.
December 27, 2020: Since my initial post, I've been able to get several great shots of these herons up close between Hyde Park and St James's Park. I've created a gallery so that you can see them all! They're pretty habituated to people in these areas. The reason they were flapping around in some of the photos is that the man in red, pictured in one of the photos, was feeding them fish or some type of meat! He was pulling out some type of raw meat from his little pouch and feeding the birds--quite the upgrade from stale bread, for sure! Anyway, what really impressed me, getting such great close-up shots of these birds--and sightings--was how detailed the pattern on the front of their necks are. It looks like a beautiful piece of embroidery or of something woven.
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