Resident exotic herons here on the rise

I HAVE been spending quite a lot of time around the canal recently, getting my boat organised for the new season.

Herons have been my constant companions, lumbering into the air as I drive up to the boat and then floating back to earth a hundred metres away to resume the motionless vigil of the dedicated fisherman.

They’re extraordinary birds. I always think there’s something exotic, or even prehistoric, about them — the great, grey pterodactyls of our waterways. They’re certainly large — a mature male can stand a metre tall, have a wingspan of nearly two metres and weigh up to two kilos.