Nesting of Grey Herons

Greetings, friends.
I hope my readers will remember my trip to Kaliningrad (East Prussia) in May of this year. It was a great time, and during this trip I visited the bird paradise. That's what I call the Curonian Spit now.
One of the places where we stopped was Lake Chaika. We were supposed to meet swans here, even though the lake is called Chaika. But we didn't see any swans, and neither did the seagulls. Apparently, the timing was so coincidental that they weren't there. But I saw a lot of big birds in the distance. And they turned out to be grey herons.

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Why is there a cross on the lake? It is called the Amber Cross. It marks the place where a hole was made in the bottom of the lake for diving into the ice hole for Epiphany in winter. The lake is shallow, and a depression was made in this place so that you could dive into the hole at Epiphany. But that's another story. At first, I thought that the cross marked the place where people died.

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It was behind the cross in the reeds that I saw the heron. But it was difficult to see her with the naked eye. My 600mm long lens camera helped me with this.

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While I was looking at the heron standing in the reeds, another bird flew low over the water and also headed towards the reeds.

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3 grey herons at the same time in one place. I've never seen anything like this before. There were 2 more herons behind the scenes, one of them went behind the reeds, and the second flew away along the reeds to the right.

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Back in the spring of this year, I was sure that herons were building nests for their offspring in the reeds. I forgot where I got the information that herons nest in trees. I thought that such big birds couldn't sit on tree branches. But watching the herons on this lake, I saw them perch on the branches and disappear into the green canopy of trees. I realized that they were building nests there. They look like ancient pterodactyls at this time. Friends, I hope that you see a bird against the background of trees.
In reality, the distance from the forest to me was large, and it was very difficult to take a high-quality photo of a flying bird at such a distance, holding a camera in my hands.
I wanted to tell you and show you exactly this moment.


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Don’t Worry, Be Happy (C) Bobby McFerrin

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11 comments
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I once visited a lake here in the Philippines, and I really enjoyed watching the many birds around. Although it’s not officially designated as a bird sanctuary, the place feels like one. Most of the birds build their nests on the trees maybe the herons do the same too.

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Most of the birds build their nests on the trees maybe the herons do the same too.

That's exactly what it is. But in my area, I rarely see a heron, and at a very great distance. The climate of my region is cold for her.

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Мне тоже никак не удаётся к ним близко подобраться. А что у вас за объектив?

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Tamron 18-400mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC HLD

Конечно, на полном хоботе качество хромает, но это у меня основной объектив в путешествиях и прогулках.
Был куплен под влиянием твоего Тамрона несколько лет назад. Время летит. Хотел как-от поменять на 18-600, но пандемия помешала и последующие события.

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без обработки. Да и условия были такие. дымка.


f/8 1/750 ISO-100 18мм


f/8 1/750 ISO-100 400мм

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Diving into a frozen lake would probably kill me, hence they put up a cross for warning lol.

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Hahaha. There are people who regularly swim in the water in winter, and we call them walruses. It's also popular in Sweden and Finland.
But on January 21, Epiphany, it is believed that no one will get sick after swimming in icy water. But personally, I don't do that. Although after a hot bath, when I was young, I rolled in the snow and swam in an ice hole on the lake. I won't do that now either, I need some training.

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Get ready to practice the Wim Hof method, lots of deep breathing to get adrenaline going to fight the cold icy water.

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