I was out for a walk today around lunchtime, and found myself walking up along the Akerselva from Sannergata/Sannerbrua. When I was crossing the footbridge that leads to Wallman's Salong, I detected movement in the water out of the corner of my eye. I stopped in the middle of the bridge (looking north) and watched to see what was moving in the water. I thought it might be a large fish, but lo and behold, it was a bird. And not just any bird, but a gray heron. When he first surfaced after diving, I thought he might be in trouble, possibly drowning, and I began to wonder how I would help him. But then he looked around him and swam across the river toward the river's edge furthest away from me, swam under the bridge, and continued swimming downstream until he came to a small waterfall, at which point he flapped his wings and 'flew' down the waterfall. I was so fascinated by him that I forgot to take a photo of him--a beautiful majestic bird--clearly quite happy in the river on a beautiful mild winter day.
I didn't know it was a heron when I first saw it. I didn't find out what it was until I googled large gray bird with long beak. The common crane came up as did the gray heron. My sister mentioned that it could be an egret, which I remember seeing in upstate New York some years ago when she and I visited a park not far from Pine Bush. Egrets are a type of heron, usually smaller, and often white. So did I see a crane or a heron? I'm sure it was a heron because its beak was very long, which is a characteristic of herons. Gray herons are called 'gråhegre' in Norwegian. When I googled the Norwegian name, a few articles came up detailing individual sightings of gray herons in the Akerselva river during the past year. So cool. My heart was so happy to see this beautiful bird. It struck me how lucky we are to live in a city with a river that runs through it, a river that attracts so many different kinds of birds and other creatures. I hope I see the gray heron again; this time I will take photos of him.
Here are some photos of a gray heron (perhaps my gray heron?) from two articles (in Norwegian) talking about gray heron sightings along the Akerselva river in our neck of the woods:
Se hva vi «traff på» langs Akerselva (nab.no)
– Den kom flyvende oppover elva, og tok en hvil på en snødekt stein (nab.no)
