I posted this a while back and said I wanted to enter a small competition. I also sent the series in to a T.V station dealing with nature and 2 photos to magazines. (albeit with my tongue in my cheek)
To my delight I found out today that a couple of photos were published in 2 magazines, and a 3rd contacted me with a view to buying a few of them. To crown it all, the series was aired on TV last night with the following info:
"These herons often hunt away from water – either moving stealthily through the grass, or standing quietly, waiting for prey to move within range of the dagger-like bill. When prey is sighted the bird lunges, straightening its neck rapidly and grasping the prey in the open bill. Such is the force of these lunges that prey may sometimes be impaled on the tip of either the upper or lower mandibles. Large prey is then typically shaken vigorously, tossed up and grabbed repeatedly until it has been sufficiently subdued to allow the heron to swallow it. In some cases the animal is still alive and moving as it travels down the sinuous neck of the heron!
(Jeni Williams van Untentweni was op vakansie in die Drakensberge toe ‘n swartkopreier verby vlieg, op die grasperk land en toe iets aanval, heen en weer skud en selfs in die lug opgooi en weer vang. Sy gryp haar kamera, hardloop nader en sien toe…) translated .......
Jeni Williams of Umtentweni was on holiday in the Drakensberg when a Black-headed Heron flew past, landed on the grass and attacked something, shaking it and even throwing it up in the air before catching it again. She grabbed her camera, ran closer and saw.........
This is a superb sequence of pics showing the heron first overpowering, and then swallowing a large Common Brown water Snake. Once caught, the snake was only able to mount a desperate rearguard action to delay the inevitable by knotting the heron’s bill closed with several coils of its body. There are two interesting aspects to this submission. The first is that, according to Jeni’s observations, it seems that the heron might have spotted the snake as it was flying past. Most snakes are extremely cryptic in their behaviour and colouring and are usually very difficult to see. If the bird had in deed identified the snake as a possible meal from the air, it suggests excellent eyesight on the part of the bird. The second is that, although Black-headed Herons are known to prey on reptiles, the snake involved in this sequence is probably at the upper size limit of what the heron could safely overpower."
I am soooooo CHUFFED!!!!!!!
