Mike Powell

A Great Blue Heron this weekend was poised, waiting to strike, and I waited with my camera and my tripod, hoping to capture the moment of triumphal success.

I had visions of the heron pulling some big fish out of the water, like I see in Phil Lanoue‘s incredible photos, and watching as he struggled to swallow it whole.

The reality, as you can see, was much more modest. After all, the Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) was fishing in the beaver pond at my local marsh and the pickings were pretty slim. Initially, I though he had caught a frog, but the photo suggests it was a small fish, though it is hard to tell for sure because of the catch’s small size.

The second photo shows his pre-strike position. The heron stood motionless in this position for what seemed like an eternity. I am amazed that he could see anything in the shallow, reed-covered water.

When he struck, he didn’t even have to put his head very deeply into the water or use a lot of force to catch the fish. The final shot shows the heron swallowing his catch. It did not take any special maneuvering to get the little fish down his throat.

I saw a heron hanging around the same beaver pond the following day. I hope he is not spending all of his time in this one location or I may end up photographing a really skinny heron in the future.

Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved