Heron

Today's the day ....................... for a siege

At any time of the day, if you stand near the weir on the bank of the River Nith as it flows through the city of Dumfries, you are almost guaranteed to see herons in double figures.

It's the perfect place to be, you see, if you're a heron?  The water has to flow over the weir - which gives lots of convenient places for a heron to stand and wait for the fish which find themselves unexpectedly in shallow water.  They are served up on a plate to the waiting herons.  No wonder the collective noun for a group of herons is - a siege.

Of course, sometimes it all gets a bit out of hand and there's a bit of heron argy-bargy (see extra).  That results in noisy air combat with much flapping of wings.  It's quite a spectator sport ......................!