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/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.
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