I have been trying to get a picture of these guys for ages, but I only ever seem to see them when they are flying above me, or they spot me close by and immediately hide away. But on my long run the other day I was able to enjoy a very quiet run down my local canal and I finally saw this beauty preening themselves on the other side of the canal.
Apologies if the picture isn’t the best quality you’ve ever seen – it was taken on my phone, about 12km into a 16km run, so my hands were probably not the steadiest! But I finally have one! And what a gorgeous bird they are!
Now I believe this bird is a little egret, which has to be the cutest name possible. Also slightly misleading as this guy didn’t look overly little. Granted when I saw them later next to a heron, they are clearly smaller, but I still think they’re pretty big birds. According to Google they can grow to be between 55 and 65 cm long, which I think works out to be around 2foot in height. For reference, I am 5 foot tall so this guy would likely come up to around my thigh? Now to me, that seems pretty big!
Luckily these birds are no considered endangered and are a very low risk animal. I know we have a local population as I do see them very often during the warmer summer months, although in winter it would appear (again according to Google) that they migrate south to warmer climates. So I shall enjoy my brief encounters with them whilst I can!
I am however very much welcome to be corrected, so if any of you think this beauty could in fact be a totally different species, do let me know!
Taylor Talks Vegan 