Kmflett's Blog

The above picture was taken in Waterloo Gardens, Roath, Cardiff on the afternoon of 8th April 2025. I’m posting it on here because it has gathered a fair bit of interest on social media, which is more transient than a blog post.

I have a bit of an (accidental) history with watching herons. My official HQ is in Tottenham, North London, which is a short walk from Walthamstow Wetlands, the largest urban Wetlands in Western Europe. There is a Heronry but the birds can usually only be spotted from afar.

However down the towpath of the River Lea from Tottenham Hale can often be found quite a well known heron. It stands on the towpath staring out a cat in the flats opposite. Quite what the history of this is unknown and its possible that the original heron has been succeeded by another.

Also being based in Cardiff the large extent of Roath Park Lake (inner city) has herons but again they can mostly be observed from afar on one of the islands.

It was surprising to spot a heron than in one of the streams of water that leads to the lake. The behaviours are characteristic. The heron watches for something it can catch and eat, often for quite a while before it suddenly swoops.

The heron on Tuesday found a couple of eats while my partner Megan and myself were watching. As with the Tottenham heron it was very focused and ignored people wandering in the gardens..