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I made this photo in 2011, at a wetland in Florida. This Great Blue Heron was wrestling with some sort of huge catfish (I think it was a catfish). We were amazed that the heron could even pick the thing up. Circumstances dictated our departure before the drama played out. I don't know if the bird ever managed to wolf that thing down.
It seems that some birds have eyes bigger than their stomachs. If potential food swims along, they just can't resist grabbing it, even if choking it down may be problematic.
Leslie Sours sent along a fabulous series of images of a Common Loon successfully capturing and swallowing an impressively large fish. I can't tell what species the victim is; if anyone knows, let us know. If I remember the story correctly, this loon was frozen into a patch of water too small to take off from, and was captured and released elsewhere in the Columbus area.
The following images document the epic struggle between the gluttonous loon and the unfortunate fish.
Photo: Leslie Sours
Photo: Leslie Sours
Photo: Leslie Sours
Photo: Leslie Sours
That oughta hold the loon over for a while! Thanks to Leslie for sharing her images!
2 comments:
We once watched a Great Blue Heron trying to swallow a muskrat at Magee. He finally gave up after an hour...just couldn't that that behind down his gullet!
Great captures! Oh wow so the loon really consumed that entire fish in the last shot here? Does the poor fish put up any fight, if eaten, does it go down wriggling all the way?!
-Kyle
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