Mrs Down's Diary

Not, I consider, a visually attractive bird and an equal menace to fish in domestic as well as natural ponds.

I was surprised to realise how little they weigh when we picked up a dead bird that had flown into a power line. It was literally a feather weight. Hardly any substance to its body. Just a long beak, skinny legs and feathers.

They do, however, have their champions and one of these is our friend Graham. He has been engaged for the past few weeks in ringing heron chicks at a herony near to where he lives.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette April 25