Great Blue Heron Fishing

This Great Blue Heron was on the shore of the Credit River near Toronto today. It was a very cloudy morning here and the low light stretched the capability of my camera system to the limit (450D, 100-400mm F4.5-5.6L: 400mm, 1/800s, iso 800 and f/7.1,f/5.6 and f/8.0 respectively reflecting the fact that I was not expecting an action sequence and was in between auto exposure brackets. )
This all happened very fast. I think the heron found the fish (likely a salmon) stranded on the rocks (Image 1). I did not really see what happened after that but the camera saw some of it: somehow the heron flipped the fish into its bill (Image 2) and then stood there with a thicker than normal neck (Image 3). Soon it moved down river and avoided me from then on. I was amazed that the bird was able to dispatch the large fish so quickly. I guess these birds don’t know what indigestion is!

Here's Image 2: Down the Hatch

Finally, image 3: Thick Necked Heron

nice sequence
i think its a carp or catfish though
(flat head)

Thank you, Erik. Yes, I bet you are right: too small to be a salmon I've seen in that river too.

I agree a nice sequence. I really like #2.

too bad you didnt get a side profile shot but that's the way it works as we all know..

I like image #2 best too, Ed. Mark, a side profile shot would have been nice for images #1 and #3. However, I think I prefer image #2 as is because of the interesting view of the fish.

I like image #2 best too, Ed. Mark, a side profile shot would have been nice for images #1 and #3. However, I think I prefer image #2 as is because of the interesting view of the fish.