Live streaming from Stocker’s Lake Heronry

See below for some live pictures from a Grey Heron nest at Stocker’s Lake. Three eggs were laid between February 10th and 14th and these all hatched between March 9th and 11th. Unfortunately one chick (the smallest and the latest to hatch) perished on March 17th, and another did so overnight on the night of May 3rd/4th. Hence there is now just one chick being cared for and fed at the nest by its parents. That chick is now fully fledged and basically full grown so can be expected to move away completely in the coming days.

Note that there is no sound in the stream and that it is programmed to be on currently only between 6.31am and 9.30pm each day with a 15 minute break between 5.54pm and 6.10pm. The break is to optimise YouTube's facility of storing up to 12 hours of recording.

The stream is dependent on the 4G mobile phone network and occasionally that fails us. Also, since the camera is solar powered the stream may struggle to get going some days if the weather is wet and overcast. On a handful of days the stream did not start at all. However more recently the longer days have helped. So if necessary please try again later. While no live stream is in operation you will see either a recording of the most recent footage or else a “Live later” or “Waiting for” message.

To view in full screen mode click on the square shaped icon, if there is one, in the bottom right hand corner of the image or else click through to view on YouTube. You can also use the scroll bar across the bottom to look back through up to 12 hours of footage.

This livestream is also viewable on our YouTube channel where you will also find recordings of previous days’ streams, and more. With the exception of the small number of dates on which the stream failed due to lack of solar power, our YouTube channel hosts a full set of stream recordings dating back to early February. Almost all of these are well indexed, using YouTube chapters, making key events, such as the laying of eggs, easy to find.

As the season progresses we are publishing especially notable updates, such as the laying of the first egg on February 10th, on our news page. These will include links to relevant recorded footage. So do keep an eye open for those.

If you have missed the early part of the season you may want to watch our highlights video below. This summarises key events streamed since the start of the season up until April 17th, the date of our 2024 Annual General Meeting.

Our thanks to Jason Fathers of Wildlife Windows for designing and installing the technology solution.