Night flight of the herons – Mark Anthony Falzon

The largest flock of night herons I ever saw, and possibly the largest ever recorded in Malta, numbered over 180 birds.

Most days from mid-August to late September, small flocks of night herons stop over at the nature reserve in Simar. They usually arrive in the early hours and can be heard calling as they settle and melt into the dense cover of reeds and Tamarisk trees, where they spend the day.

Late in the afternoon, as the glare gives way to warm colours and the cicadas grow weary, a restless something stirs in them. Still unseen, they start contact calling.

Then, as the sun sets over Pwales, they take off. Getting their bearings, they lift and call and circle and call, setting a southwesterly course that quickly takes them out of sight.

On the afternoon of September 2, 2019, they seemed to emerge from every corner of the reserve. As the birds headed southwest, all 180 of them, the dotted line was like ants across a red autumn soil.

Black-crowned night heron is the full name given to this bird. The beauty of its plumage lies in the play of contrast between the white belly, light grey wings and tail and black back and crown. The legs are yellowish and the eye a striking blood...