Eunice’s blast from the past

Dog walks in suburbia are an entertaining and energetic way of conducting casual bird surveys.

While my faithful cocker spaniel Molly pounds the pavements, nose down and tail wagging excitedly, I keep an eye on the fluctuating fortunes of a host of garden birds. The results can be enlightening.

Years of traipsing the streets have seen me witness the arrival of red kites in our village, while also noting the sad decline of the chaffinch.

Greenfinches, in contrast, are enjoying something of a renaissance after being blighted by disease. And goldfinches are on a high, thanks to the efforts of bird lovers supplying seed.

One bird, whose appearance during a stroll is always a joy, is the grey heron, although encounters in residential areas have become increasingly sporadic over the past decade.

There was a time when the huge and distinctive shape of grey herons on the wing would cast an imposing shadow over our neighbourhood.

At the time, I put their presence down to the popularity of keeping koi carp and goldfish in garden ponds. After all, herons will not pass up an easy snack.

Watching a heron perch precariously on a rooftop blasted by the winds of Storm

Eunice came as a surprise the other week. This was not so much because the bird was balancing in a hoolie on spindly legs, but its appearance after such a long absence.

We know much about these proud wetland birds via the British Trust for Ornithology’s Heronries Census – the world’s longest running bird survey – which has been charting their breeding fortunes since 1929.

Over the past decade herons have suffered an 18% decline, with the downward momentum beginning in 2010 when bitterly cold weather froze feeding areas.

The Beast from the East during nesting season a few years later inflicted more suffering on them.

Despite the stormy excesses of Dudley, Eunice and Franklin, the sight of herons holding steady on suburban rooftops is hopefully a sign that they are on the way up.

Watching a heron perch precariously on a roof in a hoolie was a surprise

SNACK TIME A heron dives into dinner