How many large fish can there possibly be in the tiny man-made pond at Green Spring Gardens? That was my initial thought when I stumbled upon a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) intently focused on the water at one end of the pond. I crept as close as I could, acutely aware that I had a non-zooming macro lens on my camera, and watched and waited.
I was somewhat surprised when the heron finally made a strike and was amazed when it pulled out a large fish. Almost immediately, the heron headed for dry land, probably fearing that it might drop the fish into the water. Playing it safe proved to be a good choice for the heron subsequently did drop the fish onto the ground. I am not sure if it was an accidental drop or if it was an intentional maneuver to grab the fish, but the heron had no trouble retrieving the fish.
It took a little while for the heron to position the fish, but once the fish was in place, the heron swallowed the fish in a single gulp. The heron then stretched out its neck and I could almost watch as the fish made its way down the neck and into the heron’s stomach.
Pulling the fish out of the water
Heading for dry land
Initial positioning
Dropped fish
The end is near
Trying to swallow
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Great shots. I was just bemoaning the fact that the heron where I am only seem to catch minute fish.
It’s rare that I get to see a heron catch a fish this big and rarer still that I get to capture a sequence of shots (usually the heron seems to turn its back on me after the catch).
Wow! Very well captured!
Thanks. As you can well imagine, there is a lot of luck in being in the right spot at the right moment to capture this kind of action.
True, you being certainly lucky here. Thanks!
Wow – that is a plucky heron. It hadn’t really occurred to me before but of course the bird would have to swallow the fish head first to make sure the fins and scales went down ok – rrrgh – feels strange to think about – but I bet the heron was very chuffed with him/herself.
I had to check out the precise definition of “chuffed,” a word that is not part of my active vocabulary. I think that it’s safe to say that both the heron and I were very chuffed with our respective catches.
That’s great Mike – happy to add to the lexicography?
PS also you should be very chuffed with yourself Mike for getting this on camera!
Awesome series! 🙂
Thanks, Ed. One of the more amazing parts of the experience was that I was able to shoot it with my 180mm macro lens. Shooting action with that lens can sometimes be a challenge because it has no image stabilization. However, I was in a comfortable position and was close enough that I didn’t have to do a huge amount of cropping.
Love the first image in the sequence in particular. It is so nice when you can catch the heron in an interesting pose!
Thanks, Chris. I photograph herons a lot and it is a challenge to get unusual shots. However, the circumstances are different each time and I’ll fire away every chance I get even when, as was the case here, I have the “wrong” lens on my camera.
What a great series. I see cormorants with fish often enough, but I’ve only seen herons catch a large fish perhaps a half-dozen times. Usually, they spend the day eating smaller ones. They go down more easily, but it does take more to make a meal. It’s fun to watch them manipulate the fish — although it clearly isn’t fun for the fish.
I’m amazed that the herons are able to slowly and methodically move the fish into positions–hands would make it a lot easier. The birds that I would like to see are the anhingas, which toss their fish into the air and swallow them on the way down.
Like a kid tossing popcorn into the air and trying to catch it in his mouth…
Great sequence!
That last shot tells it all–what a large, uncomfortable-looking lump!
Great catch – get it! 🙂
[…] to catch very large fish; I mentioned this to Michael Powell when I saw his post of a Heron fishing https://michaelqpowell.wordpress.com/2016/07/10/playing-it-safe/. All this bird caught was a small catfish. Herons have a huge reservoir of patience; if you decide […]