Heron at Hope Mill

Another damp afternoon with a spot of drizzle under grey clouds.  I drove up the valley to pick up Helena as usual after her Monday afternoon teaching job near Hope Mill.  I was a couple of minutes early so I dawdled past the small car park where I regularly park to photograph the swans on the river Frome.

I spotted the pair of swans in the river  but also just noticed a heron on the far bank standing close to the water's edge.  So I pulled into the car park and got out quickly with my camera.  The swans swam downstream towards me in their threatening pose with  wings curled behind them and semi erect.

I couldn't get a clear shot of the heron, so kneeled down and concentrated on getting a steady shot since it was some distance away. That was fatal as I took my eyes off the swans and before a minute had passed the pair had climbed the steep bank and were hurtling towards me in full aggression mode.

I stood up and the first swan came within inches of me with wings outspread and making gurgling noises.  I was trapped between it and the car and to open the door would have meant going towards the two swans.  So I rushed around the front of the car and they chased me again and rushed me.  I managed to get the door open and the first swan started biting the car bodywork, something I have seen them do before.

Once inside the car I felt safe although a little put out.  A woman was walking along the lane and called out to me that they were like this all the time at the moment, almost certainly because it is mating time.  A man with his dog came walking pas the car park and the swans went for him and the dog too.

I drove off and picked up Helena and on the way back i parked in a different area about thirty yards away from the car park as I could get a better view of the heron, which was still standing in the same spot on the far bank.  I managed a few quick shots but the swans sniffed me out and came swimming upstream this time and climbed out yet again and made another run at me.  Helena thought I was mad but I wanted the shot of the heron as it was going to be the best blip I was likely to find today.  So here it is in one of the last frames I shot.  
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