Heron Pond

Wild West Yorkshire nature diary, Sunday 18th April 1999

heron fishing TWO JUVENILE HERONS stalk the rushy pond. With unblinking concentration the one in the middle of the pond inches forward, stretches its neck a little, then stabs the water with its bill.

It's not a fish; at first I think that it has caught nothing but a wisp of algae. Then, through binoculars, I see tiny limbs. After manoeuvering it into a suitable, head first, position the heron swallows its prey, a newt.

A Great Spotted Woodpecker flies across from garden to garden near the village church.

brown-lipped snails Colonies of Brown-lipped Snail, on the towpath and alongside the quarry, are now active again.

stitchwort Greater Stitchwort is in flower in the wood. One of the differences between this and other similar stitchworts is that the edges of the leaves are rough.

Richard Bell,
wildlife illustrator
E-mail;'richard@daelnet.co.uk'

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