New guest blog on heron predation

On the WTT blog, another PhD candidate from the prolific group of Dr Martyn Lucas at Durham University has offered us some insight into heron predation.

Angus Lothian has always been interested in animal behaviour and studied seabird breeding behaviour to fish migration behaviour during the course of a BSc and MRes at the University of Glasgow. At the Scottish Centre for Ecology and the Natural Environment (SCENE), he monitored the emigration of Atlantic salmon smolts in the River Deveron, Scotland, and picked up invaluable skills in telemetry techniques which ultimately led him to his PhD. Currently, he is furthering our understanding of how fish behave around engineered structures in rivers, such as weirs and fishways, and establishing passage success for various species of coarse fish, as well as our beloved trout.

The observed predation by herons was an interesting by-product of tagging work which Angus undertook and which he hopes to expand upon during repeat monitoring this coming Autumn / Winter.