A Grey Heron guards its newborn in its nest high on a tree at Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Rajasthan India. If only there was a way of looking down at the nest and capturing a better view of the chick... which makes me wonder if anyone has such a picture? A Flickr search drew a blank.

[Susinok]

Did you climb the tree to get that photo? We have heron nests here in Oklahoma but there's no way I could get near one.

[Inexorable]

At the Bharatpur bird sanctuary, the Herons nest on Acacia trees, which are not very high. This was shot from a distance so the angle was relatively shallow.

[Susinok]

OK that makes sense. Here the herons roost in the tops of pecan and cottonwood trees which are very tall, and the branches are fairly thin in the areas where they nest.

I pictured you with tree climbing gear and camera scaling a huge tree to get that photo...

[Inexorable]

OK that makes sense. Here the herons roost in the tops of pecan and cottonwood trees which are very tall, and the branches are fairly thin in the areas where they nest.

I pictured you with tree climbing gear and camera scaling a huge tree to get that photo...

The idea of surreptitiously using a camera slung on a quadracopter did cross my mind, but not climbing a tree. I would probably get arrested if I attempted either, and probably also break a bone doing the latter!

Interestingly, Herons nest on thin branches here too. A Bharatpur guide told us that Herons use nests vacated by Painted Storks; the two birds have staggered breeding seasons. I have yet to confirm it.

Here is a different un-cropped photo that better shows the nests.