Quote Originally Posted by noel View Post
While cycling back from work along the canal in Macclefield, I passed a heron. I was on the tow path, it was on the canal side, on the same side of the canal as me. I must have been 4 feet from it when I cycled past it.

It sort of bobbed down, like it was getting ready to take off if it needed to, but it just stayed there. It was one of those moments where you think to yourself "did that really just happen"?

I often wonder if animals watch your eyes to see if you've seen them. In this instance, this may have been the case, as I was intently watching the path until I was about level with it.
I've had exactly the same thing happen a number of times on the tow-path between New Mills and Marple. I wonder if they simply don't recognise a human on a bike as being a human, and therefore not a threat. However, we've often been 'escorted' by a heron when we've been on a narrowboat. They tend to wait for the boat to draw level then fly about 50m ahead, wait for you to draw level again and continue doing this until you've reached the end of their territory (presumably). Then they fly all the way back to where they came from.