Drama at Sanctuary Ponds

This morning I walked at the Sanctuary Ponds. Although showery, when the sun did shine it was very nice. There was a lot of bird song and bird busy-ness and while walking under a very tall tree I spotted this heron acting a a sentinel high up in the branches. It had managed to work its way to the end of a long bare branch and as I progressed , the heron slowly swiveled around on the branch keeping an eye on me. (see extra)

I heard a sudden burst of birds scolding, then silence. There was not even a tui singing and when I looked up, the heron had gone. A large bird was drifting among the trees - either a hawk or a falcon, but sadly I couldn't get a good view of it, just a blurry shot among the branches.

Once the large bird had gone, the heron reappeared on its branch, and watched me as I walked around the pond and back to the car.

I would have loved a good pic of the predator bird. It was quite large and I am thinking it was probably a hawk.