DRONE PHOTOGRAPH REVEALS NINE MORE HERON NESTS THAN WERE EXPECTED

                                                         

The bird's-eye-view of the heronry at Belton House in Lincolnshire

The National Trust has issued an impressive drone photograph of the heronry at its Belton House estate near Grantham in Lincolnshire.

Used for the first time and flying 15 metres above the treetops (30 metres above the ground), while adhering to strict guidelines for wildlife monitoring, the drone enabled the team to get a much better picture of how many nests are in Belton’s heronry with minimal disturbance to the birds themselves.

Ecologist Andrew Chick, who conducted the survey, expected to find a couple of active nests but was astonished to discover 11, indicating 22 breeding birds are happily incubating three to four eggs in each. 

Says Andrew: "This statuesque bird is often spotted alongside rivers across the country, where it waits patiently to capture its prey - mainly fish, amphibians, small mammals, insects, and eels.

"They can live up to 20 years, growing to around 1 metre high, with an impressive wingspan of 1.85 meters and can weigh up to 1.5kg. 

"They usually lay their first egg in mid-March, so quite early, and only have one brood per year. 

"These herons have probably chosen to nest in this particular Scots pine tree because of its easy access to Belton’s ornamental ponds and rivers which the National Trust has been actively managing and improving.  

"It is likely the herons have been present at Belton for decades, but thanks to the view from above this year we’ve been able to get a much more accurate record of how many are nesting in the heronry." 

The number of grey herons in the UK has been steadily growing in recent years, but in Lincolnshire there has been an unexpected decline.  

In 2021, only 20 breeding sites for grey heron were recorded in the county, so the 11 nests at Belton are well over the average number recorded. 

While the full 2022 count for Lincolnshire has not yet been compiled, the team hopes the discovery at Belton shows that heron numbers in the county are improving.

A census last year collected data from 796 sites.

In total, almost 9,500 grey heron nests were recorded.