Mostly solitary, Grey Herons will nest in colonies called ‘Heronries’, often in treetops, making large messy nests from twigs and grass.

Grey Herons are generalists in habitat use but can often be spotted near water bodies throughout towns and the countryside, standing motionless with their yellow beady eyes glued to their next meal. Grey Herons mainly feeds on fish but will grab hold of anything they can get their beaks on. They’ve been witnessed gobbling down rats, moles, crayfish and even young birds!

When flying a Grey Heron looks almost prehistoric, with its 6ft wingspan, its slow, controlled wingbeats, its long legs held stretched out behind and its S-shaped neck which is often pulled into its shoulders. It seems almost unnatural to see a bird of that size fly, but it does so with such elegance that on more than one occasion it has stopped me in my tracks, wide-eyed in awe.

The word Heron, along with many other words describing the natural world, have recently been removed from the Oxford Junior Dictionary and replaced with words like broadband. This notion seems mind-boggling as Herons, along with Acorns, Chaffinches, Adders and many more species are very much still alive and living amongst humans and are still here to pique a child’s interest. Essex Wildlife Trust are working alongside Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris to promote the Lost Words book and ensure that it is available in all the 800 schools in Essex so that no more wild words are lost. Read more about our Lost Words Appeal here.

Here are some Essex Wildlife Trust reserves where you may be able to see Grey Herons, so why not go out and try to spot one for yourself? One of your Random Acts of Wildness for #30DaysWild could be to capture an image or video of one flying or draw one whilst it’s waiting motionless, for its next unsuspecting victim.  

Abberton Reservoir Visitor Centre, Colchester.

Fingringhoe Wick nature reserve, Colchester.

Hanningfield Reservoir Visitor Centre, Billericay.

Blue House Farm nature reserve, North Fambridge.

Roding Valley Meadows nature reserve, Chigwell.

Thurrock Thameside Nature Park, Stanford-Le-Hope.

Two Tree Island nature reserve, Leigh-on-Sea.