English: The Chirakkal Chira was cleaned in the end of 2016 after which there was a spurt in the growth of water lilies and also a jump in the number of birds detected at the pond. The pond became a refuge for water birds during the drought that hit the state of Kerala in 2017 due to the poor monsoon of 2016. This image is of a Grey Heron at the pond.
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A Grey Heron clicked at the Chirakkal Chira, a temple tank. Within its range, the grey heron can be found anywhere with suitable watery habitat that can supply its food. The water body needs to be either shallow enough, or have a shelving margin in which it can wade. Although most common in the lowlands it also occurs in mountain tarns, lakes, reservoirs, large and small rivers, marshes, ponds, ditches, flooded areas, coastal lagoons, estuaries and the sea shore. It sometimes forages away from water in pasture, and it has been recorded in desert areas, hunting for beetles and lizards. It is closely related and similar to the North American Great Blue Heron (ardea herodias), which differs in being larger, and having chestnut-brown flanks and thighs, and to the Cocoi Heron (ardea cocoi) from South America that forms a superspecies with.