I was sure the Great Blue Heron was around but couldn’t find it. I wandered around it’s usual haunts in the shallows but it just wasn’t there. Lots of other people were around fishing but not the Heron. I scanned the shore of the delta island and finally spotted it motionless, staring into the water below some bushes.
I watched and waited for maybe 5 minute before the Heron struck. It happened so suddenly I missed capturing it with the camera. It had the fish in it’s beak and immediately stepped back away from the waters edge.
The Bass was not going quietly and continued to struggle. I wasn’t sure what the Heron was going to do.
When the fish did go down it was like watching a cartoon on tv. The fish could be seen going down it’s throat.
Then the Heron just sat there quietly no doubt with the bass twitching and struggling in it’s stomach!
2 Responses
Kyle
Amazing capture! I wouldn’t think that heron could win the struggle and eat such a huge fish! So does the poor bass get swallowed down desperately wriggling about all the way? I wonder, does it stand any slim chance of escaping the hungry birds stomach if eaten in that condition as well?!
George McQuade
A friend and I were discussing this last evening. She was telling me of watching a heron consume a gopher!
I can only imagine what it must feel like with fish and animals wiggling around in the stomach before they succumb to suffocation.