I took this video this afternoon of a Great Blue Heron that decided to swallow a fish that wasn't going to go down without a fight. Despite what it looks like, he never did swallow it while I was there and I watched at least another ten minutes after I took the video.

Heron video

Ana

It did look like he swallowed it.... I bet he didn't think it was so funny...:-)

He didn't swallow it. I have two videos after this one where it's still flapping away.

Ana was this taken at the same park as your contest photos?

Maybe he liked the inner massage of the fishy?

Looks like a rowdy tenant to me...

SpaceQ, this was taken at another preserve near me. It's a large pond full of frogs, fish and ducks. A heron's paradise.

Sorta

soot, it sure does! Don't give up without a fight!

Ana

Definitely a new take on a fish out of water...

I had a hawk fishing in my pond yesterday morning. It's also on the Blue Herons breakfast list.

Marian Yes indeed!

Connie, I have a Coopers Hawk and a falcon that stalk the birds I feed in my yard. The circle of life, I guess. They hit my window by my desk often when they swoop down and the hawk even got his beak caught once when he broke the window. Do you have a koi pond? I saw a water squirter that operates on motion sensor that you can put by your ponds to prevent animals from stealing you fish.

Yes I have a koi pond. I will look for that motion sensor. At the moment we keep the water very blue so it's hard to see the fish. It's a special dye for ponds, but with all our rain it gets costly.

What a sight !! Thanks for the video, BrownEyedTigre

If you ever have someone come knocking, asking if you've seen a Cooper's Hawk don't let them know about it unless it's Forest Service or someone like that. They are favorites among raptor hunters, that is to say they capture and domesticate the birds to use for hunting smaller game. This may be hypocritical of me, because I hunt, but I don't condone hunting or domestication of any type of predator. I had a guy nosing around our land up north, because of a couple pairs of Cooper's Hawk's we had nesting on a regular basis. I explained to him that he was trespassing and asked him to leave. After he offered me money to help him catch the pair I walked over to his car, wrote down the license plate and told him that if anything ever happened to the hawks on our land he would rue the day he ever spoke to me. Never saw him again.

Oh, and cool video. I could see something like that going viral.

Connie, there are tons of different brands on Amazon almost all under 50 dollars. There are videos on YouTube showing them in action.

Mad, glad you enjoyed it!

Trail, that is interesting to say the least! I would certainly never let anyone have access to them either. Nothing wrong with hunting if you eat what you hunt but using a raptor for it is a new one for me!

Ana

I thought hunting with raptors went back a very long way. Didn't the ancient Egyptions do it

And I'm pretty sure it's still (legally) practiced in some countries today ....

I can fully picture that Mad in times when hunting was relied on for food. I didn't think it was a way of hunting for those not living off the land and dependent on it being your sole source of providing for yourself. Typically its bow and arrow or a rifle here.

actually , not to be a party poop , but i believe what we're seeing is the way

the bird cools off ,and if i remember correctly , it's called goolar fluttering

or flapping (sorry it's been awhile ) so i don't think it's a fish ,but what

the bird is doing by himself.

was it hot or muggy out when you filmed ?

I am aware of gular fluttering Niteowl and it does indeed look very similar, but I saw him catch the fish before he did this and he also repeatedly gagged to try and swallow it. It may have been a combination of both, but he did have a fish and did appear to try and choke it down. I watch them fish a few times a week there and his neck outstretching is done to swallow and it takes a few times in order to get a big one down.

way cool , though - they are so fascinating to watch no matter what , and

i'm loving that he stayed in a position that you could film him so well -

keep up the good work !

You gotta have a chuckle watching that.

The phrase, "Quit playing with your food" comes to mind.

joe

niteowl, they will stay in one place for hours if they aren't chased away. I love watching them fish, it's amazing!

Joe,

Ana