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Post by mousiemouth on Feb 19, 2017 7:35:40 GMT
hi everyone,
i live on a golf course and have noticed for a few weeks now when I come home from work late at night about 10 or 11, there is a heron who regularly is standing under the trees. I wondered whether anyone can tell me why he would be there....is he looking for food or just sheltering for the night?
I would have thought he would want to be nearer to a water course
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Post by Tringa on Feb 19, 2017 10:27:12 GMT
Hello Mousiemouth and welcome to WABI.
My guess is both.
Although it might be safer to shelter/roost in a tree I think the only likely predators of a heron on the ground would be a stray dog or a fox, and even then it is quite a risky undertaking - herons are sizeable creatures that can strike very quickly. Herons will also eat just about anything that moves which they can cope with and there might frogs, toads, mice rats around that could make a meal.
Dave
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Post by accipiter on Feb 19, 2017 11:49:10 GMT
Herons more and more are not only to be found by water courses but in the very areas you describe mainly caused by the shortage of food, eels for instance are no longer to be found in large numbers as they once were.
I have two herons here that are normally seen in the meadow looking for food mainly in the early morning. It is also not unusual to see them hunting in town centres as well.They not only feed on fish and other aquatic creatures but will take small mammals, birds, worms, slugs, and carrion if hard pushed.
There used to be only the one single bird seen here hunting as is normally the case but due to the shortage of fish / food it is not that unusual to more than one single bird.
Similar behaviour can be seen in many other species too, take the Sparrowhawk who was once mainly a bird of the countryside, it is no longer the case as its prey is now more likely to be found in town centres due to the changing pattern of farming.
They not only roost in trees but also on the ground, at least my local herons do, I would not have thought predation by others would be a big problem to the heron has I have seen buzzards see foxes off whist eating their prey on the ground so the heron would have no problem simply taking to flight when danger appears. It also has a pretty formable weapon in the form of its beak that it uses to great effect.
Alan
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Post by mousiemouth on Feb 20, 2017 0:32:30 GMT
thank you both for answering my question. if he is waiting for food can I assume then that herons have good night time vision?
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Post by accipiter on Feb 20, 2017 9:47:15 GMT
Yes most probably waiting for food, hunting at night is not at all unusual for herons which they do by sensing movement in the water, or in this case on the ground. Owls for instance can see much better than you or I in the dark up to three times in fact, but even these birds rely on their acute sense of hearing to sense their prey.
Alan
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