Hunting Heron

Flashier Splashier in large ("L").

Late blip; too late for this not to be a quick blip... (Zzzzzz)

Good news: Jurgen caught the injured gosling! Yay - it is now at The Swan Sanctuary and will be x-rayed and examined by the vet tomorrow morning. I bumped into Jurgen at Eagle Pond this afternoon (serendipitously) and he explained that these particular goslings seem very alert and especially hard to catch (that's right: they're unusually skilful! I never doubted them...). I was so relieved when Ann phoned me to tell me that he'd been successful, and that it is now in a safe place where it can receive treatment for its neck: I feel sad for the Goosles and the separated gosling but it is better this way than for it to struggle and not survive...
Thank you Ann and Jurgen!

This is a heron hunting on Wandsworth Common: it stood still for about a minute, and then lunged into the water and caught a little fish (about 2 inches long). They're wonderful to watch, and I'm especially glad that it caught a fish rather than one of the many ducklings/moorhenlings/cootlings on the pond. I've also uploaded a (not very) small tufted duckling which was all alone at the dark, shadows end of the pond: the (cute) photo shoes it drying its wings after a series of foraging dives...