Ōtautahi / Christchurch Daily Photo

I was out for a walk this afternoon when I heard and then saw several herons flying overhead. They were making quite a racket and are amazing to watch in the air. They settled in this large blue gum and were very hard to spot as they are quite well camouflaged amongst the dark leaves.

According to what I have read online, they are the most common heron in New Zealand. The arrived here from Australia in the late 1940’s. They breed from June to February and make their nest in large trees (the blue gum they are in is indeed very large).

Here’s a shaky video I took of them with my camera..