Never take herons for granted as they're part of Mayo folklore
COUNTRYFILE
WE watched the heron riding the wind, its great wings spread wide to provide uplift, then pumping hard and narrow to drive the bird forward on a downward trajectory.
Greater progress was made on this latter part of flight, but we could see the whole process was hard work.
When rising, our heron was able to maintain position and no more. Indeed, an occasional stronger gust drove him back a measure.
I wonder did he regret having set out so far earlier in the day, so that this tortuous flight must be endured as he found his way home.
If herons were fewer in number we would be excited to catch a glimpse of one.
In taking them for granted, we miss out on a lot of fascinating natural history and folklore.
Many herons will already be prepared for the new breeding season, which might begin as early as the middle of this month.
They like to nest on well established sites. Some heronries have been established for many decades and have been used by countless generations of birds.
The largest heronry on record was found at Great Snowden Woods in Sussex in the UK, where some 400 nests were recorded in 1866.
Locally, we have three or four nests each year on a small, isolated lake island.
Even these few nests can produce a great amount of noise as the adults engage in their courtship displays, which involve a lot of strange calls and clapping together of mandibles.
A heronry should be viewed from afar. When they are disturbed, herons will regurgitate their last meal on the heads of intruders.
Their rear end provides a secondary means of defense, one that is just as effective in repelling unwanted attention!
The process of bonding between a pair of herons includes the giving of gifts in the form of sticks. The male brings these one at a time, and watches on as the female adds them to the structure of the nest.
This generous behaviour is often the downfall of the family home, as an originally small platform is added to continually until it can no longer be supported by the branches of the tree it is based in.
Stick is added to stick until the whole thing is unbalanced, and down it comes one dark and stormy spring night.
We think of herons as eaters of fish and frogs, though in reality they will eat anything small enough for them to get their beaks around. Insects form an important part of their diet, as do small mammals and even ducklings.
Patience is key. How often do we see our heron standing knee deep in water as if he were carved from stone? He may have been in that spot for hours.
But he knows that sooner or later his patience will be rewarded, and that unnecessary movement on his part will be far more likely harm to his prospects than to achieve good results.
So there he stands, probably in a spot that has been tested by time. Perhaps he learned the best locations from his own parents, and will yet pass them on to his offspring.
Being fed on such a fine diet, we might assume the heron himself would make good eating. Roasted heron was once a popular dish among the wealthy, who prized the bird as a falconry quarry.
I did read the experience one man who tried cooking a heron. That bird went uneaten.
He claims that the advice given him to hang the heron for a week before bringing it into the kitchen was misdirected, and that if the meat was eaten fresh the experience would be far improved.