Great Blue Heron In Flight With Fish!!

I saw this Great Blue Heron from my car as I was going around the corner by this pond. I could see he had a pretty big fish. I took my next right and circled back to the pond, got out quickly and then sneaked up.

He was definitely focused on his fresh catch until four Sandhill Cranes flew in. He decided to carry his catch to the other side of the pond. I captured a couple of shots before the Sandhills flew in as well, which I will post. I’m trying to post in reverse order of the action of the GBH and the Cranes. I like slideshows to be somewhat chronological. I know…control freak, LOL!

Anyway, the fish is a Pond Plecostomus, like one of those algae eaters you might have in your freshwater aquarium. They are very dark, and this one is also in the crane's shadow. The Pond Pleckies, get pretty big around here, much bigger than this one in this small pond, but it was still a pretty big fish for the GBH, who eventually gulped it down, and I have a far away shot of it still in its throat. Crazy, but probably not worth posting.

Here's a previous post of mine, of some pretty big pond plecostomus! www.flickr.com/photos/27457302@N07/4027054525/ These were several times the size of the one the GBH has above. I'm thinking osprey would be challenged carrying one of those big boys, but a bald eagle would probably have no problem. We have both around here as well. Florida is a wonderful place to live if you love wildlife.

Hugs and thanks for viewing! =o)

***All rights to my images are STRICTLY reserved. Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing my images or if you are an educator or non-profit interested in use. copyright KathleenJacksonPhotography 2010***

Taken on: October 2, 2010

Tags:

Nature

Bird

GBH

GBH In Flight

GBH With Pond Plecostomus

Florida

Brandon, FL

Florida Birds

Birds of Florida

Birds With Prey « less

Sets appears in: • Birds

Camera: Canon EOS 40D, f/11.0, 1/640 sec, 171mm, ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 40D
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/640)
Focal Length:	171mm
ISO:	400
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows
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