Grey Heron
Ardea cinerea · Herons & egrets
Grey Heron among the mallards
Dungeness, 20 December 2025
A Grey Heron standing dead still at the reed line at Dungeness in December while a scatter of mallards paddles past unconcerned. It is the heron of every river, lake and marsh across Europe and Asia, and the commonest large bird on the Kent marshes.
Europe's version of the Great Blue Heron, similar in build and habit though smaller and paler, and a common enough sight that ducks nearby barely register it as a threat. They should: a grey heron will take a duckling, and a rat, and has been photographed swallowing a rabbit.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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