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Today I walked from Failford to Annebank with the dogs.  These are both stops on the River Ayr Way ( see link ) and are great places to walk.  Last week I collected some conkers with the intention of planting them while out with the dogs.  I had about 600 in my bag and decided to plant them on a bank far enough away from the river and in an area that was unlikely to be disturbed that also had excellent light.  Using a stick as a spade I put them into clusters of about ten each and I made a TED shape in memory of my cat .  Hopefully they will grow into large Horse Chestnut trees in the years to come.  About three years ago I planted a bunch of conkers and they are now tiny saplings.  It is important to plant trees and it is actually a lot of fun.  Even though there are thousands of chestnut trees, many of the conkers get eaten, taken away or washed into the river ( conkers don't float, they sink to the river bed ).  I read somewhere that very few conkers actually grow into trees. 

Anyway, while I was looking for a spade ( actually a stick my dog kept stealing from me ) I saw seven Grey Heron sitting in the tall trees overlooking the river.  I was amazed as I had always believed the Grey Heron was a solitary bird.  I can only think it was perhaps two adults and five of their offspring.  This seems highly unlikely as I didn't think  they remained in flocks after about one year old.  These birds were all  fully grown.  I have noticed that Grey Heron numbers have really increased over the last few years,  it is really unusual not to see a Grey Heron while I am out running or walking with the dogs.

Has anyone seen more than a couple of Grey Heron in the same area together?

http://www.theriverayrway.org/

I've only ever seen them on their own (I think).  Very impressive looking birds, and we had one land in our garden, and it looked very much out of place. 

They often go into gardens that have ponds.   One launched an attack on my Dads pond fish once.  The fish didn't come out of hidding for two days even after a protetion net had been placed over the pond.   

Yes, we have a pond.  It's about 3 feet in diameter - so hardly a great feeding ground for them.  There aren't any fish in it either, just lots of frogs. 

6 French hens

5 Gollllllllllllllllllllllddddddddd rings

They're level with the New Zealand Kiwis...

Kiwis will win comfortably

Hopefully with a few more injuries.

oooops maybe not .... was a forward pas anyway !!

Forward schmorward.

cracking match

Amazing stuff !!

Any other tips Kev?

;D

Yeah .... go bird watching, its more exciting ;)

lol 

It's not the right season for breeding (heron's breed early - Feb onwards), so what you saw was really unusual Sark.

Herons breed in comunal trees though (the colony's called a heronry), so they aren't solitary. The main reason we don't see to many together is that they eat a lot and travel a lot to find it.

Right, thanks Rob.  I am not sure how long a Heron stays with their parents or how long it takes them to reach full size.  These guys all looked about the same size