Black-crowned night herons were residents at my local park's pond for years, but a few years ago poor water conditions led to a huge fish kill, wiping out the majority of catfish the herons and other visiting egrets and cormorants would hunt. We still get occasional visitors which will catch the small fish, but there is a healthy supply of pocket gophers in the park that black-crowned night herons, great blue herons and great egrets will hunt.
Last week, I was pleased to see this black-crowned night heron fly in. It didn't take long to see what the bird was in search of. It made a couple of attempts before catching its meal.
Graphic series follows. Tucson, AZ with Nikon Z9/800PF.
Portrait as bird scans the fields for opportunities.
First attempt seen, heron missed when it struck and moved on.
After stalking another hole, the heron struck .... will it come up empty again?
Paydirt! The gopher fights as the heron pulls it from the ground.
Heron tosses it around to subdue it.
Subdued, heron walked it a few feet to the pond to eat.
Heron dips the gopher, it both cleans and lubricates the prey as it positions it to swallow.
Getting the gopher into proper orientation to swallow.
That Jeffry is some crazy feeding to witness! I have only seen Night Herons roosting in trees, never on the ground and ohhh my never seen them hunting for gophers! These are excellent captures.
Last image is really a beauty too
Karl Witt wrote:
That Jeffry is some crazy feeding to witness! I have only seen Night Herons roosting in trees, never on the ground and ohhh my never seen them hunting for gophers! These are excellent captures.
Last image is really a beauty too
Karl
Thank you! They are fairly common here around water, which isn't common : Always a treat to see them hunt!
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Erictator wrote:
Good day for the heron, not so much for the gopher. I like how he washed his meal up a bit before swallowing it down.
Cool set of pics.
Eric
Thank you! Plenty of other gophers had good days that day though
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douter wrote:
Great sequence, Jeffry, and a great meal for the bird!
Douglas
Thank you, quite a substantial meal considering a lot of the fish they are catching are maybe an inch long.
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morris wrote:
Excellent action set Jeffry. I like you use of specular highlights in the first image. It's amazing what they can swallow.
Morris
Thank you, morning light at the park is quite wonderful. Truly amazing what they can fit down!
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sum1sgrampa wrote:
Great documentation ! I had no idea they'd eat small mammals.
Gary
Thank you! Most of these egrets and herons, from what I've observed, will eat anything they can fit if the opportunity arises, but the gophers are sought after at times by both the great egret and great blue as well as the night heron at this park.
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johnohio wrote:
Great action set. Excellent captures.
John
Thanks so much!
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R_o_l_o wrote:
Nature is brutal! Awesome set! Did you do any type of processing to the background on the last pic? Looks kind of surreal.
Nature can be, but still beautiful. That last shot was a small window in the branches as it moved behind the trees.
excellent photos! 