Great Blue Heron and tiny fish

Feeds:: Posts; Comments

Great Blue Heron and tiny fish

October 16, 2018 by Mike Powell

I have seen Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) catch fish so big that I was sure that they would not be able to swallow them, but I don’t think I have ever seen one catch fish as small as the ones this heron was pulling out of the water yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

The Great Blue Heron was standing on the shore rather than in deeper water. As I watched, the heron periodically would catch and swallow one of these tiny fish and then return to scanning the water. It struck me that it would need to catch a lot of these little fish to make a satisfying meal.

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Fish, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Ardea herodias, blue heron, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, heron, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA | 14 Comments

14 Responses

on October 16, 2018 at 5:35 am | Reply joyroses13

That is so small, he probably barely tastes it!
on October 16, 2018 at 8:15 am | Reply Dan Antion

Appetizers?

Great photo, Mike. I have watched them on the shore, very early, eating small fish. I don’t know how they can see them.
- on October 16, 2018 at 8:21 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  I managed to watch this heron from a good location that was not very far away from the heron, so I was able to zoom in pretty close. As I reviewed my photos, though, this was the only one in which we had a good look at the fish’s eye–I wanted to have the eyes of both creatures visible.
on October 16, 2018 at 11:18 am | Reply Eliza Waters

Appetizers! 😉
on October 16, 2018 at 12:14 pm | Reply Jet Eliot

Maybe on a diet? Fantastic photo, Mike.
on October 16, 2018 at 1:16 pm | Reply Robert Kirkendall

Hors d’oeuvres
on October 16, 2018 at 4:07 pm | Reply Ellen Jennings

You made me laugh with this one, Mike! Very nice capture.
- on October 16, 2018 at 7:41 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  It took a lot of shots to get that one with the eye of the fish visible, but it was the one that I envisioned, and I was thrilled I was able to get it.
on October 16, 2018 at 11:39 pm | Reply Jill Kuhn

Must be a true delicacy! Great shot Mike! 😃 Love the details in the Great Blue Heron as well as the tiny fish. It would make a wonderful painting… 🎨👍
- on October 17, 2018 at 5:03 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, the heron was close enough that I was able to fill the frame with its head and shoulders, which is what allowed me to capture such fine details in the heron, like some of the individual wispy feathers.
on October 18, 2018 at 9:20 am | Reply Reed Andariese

Nice Mike! Maybe they were appetizers! It is amazing what they can eat. I have seen them eat fish so large it took 20 minutes to swallow it. Or small mammals & snakes plus things I could not identify.
- on October 18, 2018 at 9:44 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  I have seen them it fish and a snake, but never mammals. Yikes!
on October 18, 2018 at 9:07 pm | Reply Molly Lin Dutina

He must have been hungry! Love herons! My favorite bird and I rarely get to see them up close. They do fly over our house regularly!
- on October 19, 2018 at 6:00 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  I was relatively close to this one, though it is a little deceptive because I had a long telephoto lens. Great Blue Herons are pretty common in the marshes and woodlands that I like to visit, though often they are skittish and fly away as I approach. I find that herons appear much more graceful in the air than on the ground.