Herons in Jeziorki, summer's end

Equinox befalls us under cloudless skies; perfect weather with which to bid farewell to astronomical summer (meteorological summer ended with the end of August). It's been a bad year for bird life on Jeziorki's ponds, as I have written earlier. But along with ducks, coots and the perennial swan pair, grey herons are long-time regulars in Jeziorki. Herons, however, are very shy, and will fly off if humans are seen anywhere within 100m or so. But armed with my Nikon Coolpix P900, I can zoom in tightly...

Below: Heron and duck. Shallow water is not a problem for herons as wading birds; however, it is very much so an issue for diving birds such as grebes and pochards, which were not present at all in Jeziorki this dry year, 

Below: despite me being partially hidden behind bushes, the heron spots me, and a couple of seconds later takes flight, flapping its big wings to ascend to a nearby tree top...
 

Below: ... here it is, still keeping an eye on me from a safe distance.

Below: zooming out I find that this heron is one of three perching up in this large, dead tree.

Below: zoom in on the tree, heron standing on one leg. There must be some reason - such asymmetry doesn't look rewarding...

Below: the one-legged pose must be comfortable, here's another one.

I hope they survive and thrive; Jeziorki may not have resident storks, but herons have been here for a long time - the swans arrived within the lifetime of this blog, but I've seen herons around ever since moving into the area in 1997. Herons live around five years, swans up to 15 years.

This time last year:

Sublime September sun, Ealing

This time three years ago:
Stepping up the pace

This time four years ago:
Evolution of human consciousness

This time five years ago:
Farewell to Ciocia Jadzia

This time six years ago:
By train from to Konstancin and Siekierki

This time seven years ago:
Summer's end, Jeziorki

This time nine years ago:
Ząbkowska, Praga's newly-hip thoroughfare

This time 11 years ago:
Catching the klimat

This time 13 years ago:
Road to Łuków - a road trip into the sublime