How am I supposed to swallow this?!!

[Steve Maxson]

This is a followup to yesterday's post. This Great Egret is valiantly trying ...and trying ...and trying to figure out how it can swallow this rather large needlefish. The size of the fish plus its long narrow jaw made it very difficult for the bird to position the fish correctly to get it started down the bird's throat. After about 15 minutes of this, the bird finally gave up. :( 40D, 500 f/4 + 1.4X, 1/2000, f/8, ISO 400. I removed a lot of OOF black dots to clean up the fore- and background. Comments are welcome.

[Dick Ginkowski]

I like it. Good action shot blending art with a bit of photojournalism.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Man, that egret is quite ambitious!! From the sounds of it seems like it met its match too! Awesome timing on your part to get the point of the fish's nose poking the egret's throat. Exposure looks good. I only wish the bird was angled more towards you...could you habe moved left a bit to achieve this? Was the fish live, and did it escape after the egret gave up?

[Steve Maxson]

Man, that egret is quite ambitious!! From the sounds of it seems like it met its match too! Awesome timing on your part to get the point of the fish's nose poking the egret's throat. Exposure looks good. I only wish the bird was angled more towards you...could you habe moved left a bit to achieve this? Was the fish live, and did it escape after the egret gave up?

Hi Daniel. Thanks for your comments. The bird seemed pretty much perpendicular to me at the time, though there was room to my left that I could have moved to. There were a number of other photographers in the area because a lot of birds were present that day, but as far as I could tell, I was the only one to pick up on this action. As I recall, the fish was still alive, but not at all frisky by the time the egret was done with it. I would guess that it did not survive.

[Mike Fuhr]

What a neat capture. Love the action and lighting. I'm surprised he had a problem getting the breakfast down. I've see herons swallow bigger fish with more girth -- not sure how everything stretches, but nature always manages.:D

[Nancy A Elwood]

Steve what timing!! I like it as presented with the fish angled like that and the mirror image WOW very good!! Exposure spot on.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

That's a good question!
Nice image with a funny story. Love the reflection and warm light.

[Vida van der Walt]

Can't blame the Egret for giving up!:D Another great image Steve. Love the action, detail and light.:)

[Stu Bowie]

Steve, very well timed to capure the fish between the beak, and overall, well exposed. I like the inclusion of the full reflection in this. Thanks for sharing something most of us will never see.