Grey Heron

A common bird to the reservoir & breeds nearby. Large counts have occurred at the southern end in winter & late in the breeding season.

Pre '90's - Maximum of 6 on many dates (DEP)

02/09/91 - 5 birds. 1 landed on the water, caught & ate a fish, before flying off once more

18.08.94 - 6 birds

08/08/95 - 14 birds

28/01/96 - 6 birds

24/07/97 - 25 birds

02/08/97 - 29 birds

22/09/97 - 31 birds. Record count (KGH). Bizarrely exceeded by the record count of Little Egrets (32) in 2006 and even more Little Egrets (43) in 2017

14/12/97 - 15 birds

02/01/98 - 18 birds

10/02/98 - 14 birds

06/09/98 - 30 birds

??/08/99 - Maximum count of 26 birds

22/01/00 - 17 birds

20/08/01 - 9 birds

03/08/02 - 9 birds

05/08/03 - 7 birds

21/02/04 - 7 birds

23/08/05 - 7 birds

28/01/06 - 5 birds

09/08/07 - 9 birds mainly immatures (also 1-3 throughout the year)

2008 - Usually 1 bird present all year, sometimes 2, occasionally 3 with 4 on 22/07/08 and 01/09/08

2009 - Usually 1-3 birds with maximum 6 birds on 15/08

2010 - Usually 1 or 2 birds, occasionally up to 4, and 6 birds on 01/08 and 16/12

2011 - recorded on 219 dates with usually 1-4 birds. 5 on 07/09 and 9 on 16/09

2012 - recorded on 218 dates with usually 1-4 birds. 8 on 30/08 and 7 on dates in August and February

2013 - recorded on 214 dates with usually 1-4 birds. Up to 7 in August

2014 - recorded on 181 dates with usually 1-4 birds. Up to 6 on 3 dates in September

2015 - recorded on 210 dates with usually 1-3 birds. Maximum 10 on 29/09

2016 - recorded on 200 dates with 1-4 birds

2017 - recorded on 185 dates with 1-4 birds

2018 - recorded on 148 dates with max 5 on 30/08

2019 - recorded on 176 dates with max 4 on 25/08

2020 - recorded on 206 dates with max of 5 on 19/08

2021 - recorded on 207 dates with 1-4 birds

2022 - recorded on 219 dates with 1-6 birds. Highest counts in August and September

2023 - recorded on 247 dates with 1-4 birds. Highest counts in August, September and October