Herons Are Huge: The Day I Thought Dinosaurs Came Back

Deciding to stretch my legs one sunny morning, I went to a local park to sit, admire the trees, and breathe fresh air.

This particular park, whilst not as large as somewhere like Hyde Park, has been designed so you could wander around for hours, see something new every time and get lost in the bushes. On this particular day, I decided to take a break and sit down on top of one of the hills, looking over one of the many dinosaur statues.

A bird stood next to the statues doing what birds do and decided it wanted to have a bit of a stretch, air out its wings and fly in a circle. Which is lovely, but this bird was massive. People close by, along with myself, all stopped steering at this enormous bird.

This is where I saw my very first heron.

For at least a minute, as that bird took flight, I thought one of the statues had come to life. My heart was beating fast as I did a quick inventory of what I could use to fight off a killer bird if I had to. I decided my kindle would have to be my shield and sword if it came down to it.

Did you know a heron is between 1.2-1.9 metres in length and has a wingspan over 2metres? Compared to the common pigeon, that’s huge. And whilst they are common in the UK, this was my first.

Below is a picture of the heron visiting one of its ancestors. 

Another one just admiring the ducks (out of view) 

I’ve crossed paths with these magnificent birds quite a few times since that day. There are two of them, and they mind their own business, fly around and eat and do bird things. They are living perfectly with the other wildlife, swans, ducks and humans, of course!