At first sight this heron appears to be swimming, and although they don’t have webbed feet there are a few videos online of grey herons doing exactly that. But I watched this bird as it picked its delicate way down the bank and stepped into the water. Then it took a sedate walk along the shallows with long legs bent and feet firmly planted on the river bed.Proof that it still had contact with the bottom came when it suddenly lunged from the river and flew off. The first flap of those huge wings grabs a mighty scoop of air, but the leap from the water was so explosive that leg power must have been needed too.
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