Green Heron with big appetite

[skyviewer]

When i was first watching him he was walking around in the swamp.  Then his head went down and pointed forward.  He then started to creep forward.  Then all of a sudden he was gone in a flash he went about 15-20ft and grabbed this big ole frog.  Watching him size it up as to how he was going to swallow it was pretty funny.  Then when he did swallow it back the feet were sticking out of his bill and he kept having to croon his neck up to get it all down.  The crazy thing is i thought he would be done and full but about 5 minutes later he grabbed a weird looking black grub and chomped that back as well.

i posted them on my website so when the first pic comes up just keep clicking the next button to view all the pics

enjoy

http://www.daxton.ca/stockphotos/birds/_MG_1637.html

[mr.sharp-photo]

great captures!
looks like the frog just gave up.

[Mark D]

Very neat shots.  That must have been great to see!

Mark

[Moira]

What an incredible capture.  I don't know whether to laugh or be sick.  Talk about biting off a bit more than you can chew!

[Moira]

Skyviewer:  Where are you seeing the Green Heron?  I would love to see one.

[skyviewer]

Well i have seen them at a number of swamps around Durham.  But one place where i have seen a lot of them recently is at a swamp near Enniskillen.  If you drive along concession rd 7 just west of hwy 57 there is a swamp on the south side.  Last week later in the day i saw at least 5 Green Herons and one GBH.

[Moira]

Thanks Skyviewer.  That's not too far away.  I'll likely check it out.  We were actually at the Enniskillen Conservation area a couple of weeks ago.  It looks closed.  There was a lonely female wood duck in the pond there.

[skyviewer]

Hey Moira keep in mind that i am not talking about a pond inside Enniskillen i am talking about the pond right off the road on concession rd 7 outside the park down the big hill when driving east towards hwy 57.  About a week ago i also saw a scarlet tanager there.  There is a place to park on the north side of the road at the bottom of the hill.  

cheers

[Moira]

Thanks again Skyviewer.   A Scarlet Tanager would be a bonus!

[Moira]

Took a drive to the pond you mentioned Skyviewer.  We saw three green herons, two downy woodpeckers, many mourning doves, two painted turtles and three mink.  It seemed dead when we got there, but settled in and decided it was well worth the trip.  Thanks for the recommendation.  We actually drove past it last weekend!

[skyviewer]

Thanks everyone for the comments

Hey Moira that is awesome.  I'm glad you were successful in seeing the Green Herons.  Where did you happen to see the minks?  I would love to get some pictures.

thanks

[Moira]

They might have been otters!  There were three of them.  It was in the same pond as the green herons.  They were swimming and frolicking on the west side of the pond and eventually came over to the middle.  I couldn't quite get a shot, but it was towards the end of our stay and it was getting a little damp, chilly and late.