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Safari goer Bernadette filmed this heron showing off in the Kruger National Park in February 2015. The bird was seemingly doing the impossible as it moved smoothly across the water’s surface without even moving its feet.
It looked like a glitch in reality or a perfectly timed magic trick, as the heron moved serenely across the water as if it was gliding on ice. Herons like to wade through shallow waters with their long legs, but not quite like this.
A Look Behind The Curtain
While it was definitely the coolest heron in the Kruger in this moment, the bird wasn’t actually able to walk on water in a biblical sense. The appearance of the enormous bulk of a surfacing hippo gently revealed the illusion.
The little face of the huge mammal surfaced just for long enough to give a sly look before submerging once again. The hippo was the heron’s choice of surfboard, and this wasn’t an isolated incident.
Maintaining long flights can be exhausting, and large animals like hippos present what is essentially a moving island that the herons can rest on while still having a good view of the water.
The hippos don’t seem too bothered when the herons use them as surfboards, and this one didn’t make any attempts to dislodge its avian rider. It’s amazing how difficult the hippo was to spot beneath the surface of the water, and it really made it seem like a magic trick.
An Impressive Set Of Skills
This appeared to be a grey heron, which can be found near bodies of water across Africa, Asia, and Europe. They prefer watery areas with parts shallow enough for them to wade through as they keep an eye out for fish.
Some herons have found an innovative solution for when there is no shallow ground for them to use beyond the edges of the water, and that is to hitch a ride on these hippos.
As the hippo moves around beneath the surface of the water, keeping itself cool, the heron gets a leisurely ride around the buffet as it keeps an eye out for any tasty fish swimming past nearby. It’s unclear if the hippo benefits, but it doesn’t seem to mind.
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Coolest Heron In The Kruger
As a surfing heron, this was potentially the coolest bird in the Kruger National Park at the time, and it was the best magician in the park. There aren’t many animals that can pull off a trick like this without ruffling a feather.
The hippo made for the perfect accomplice with its little sly look at the tourists before going back into hiding. Once underwater, these animals can hold their breath for over five minutes, meaning this heron had plenty of time to show off to those that hadn’t seen the hippo yet.
Sightings like this show that, regardless of how many times tourists visit the Kruger National Park, they never know what the animals will have in store for them, and the next amazing sighting might be just around the corner.