This was taken in the early morning, before the sun had cleared the tree-tops, so the light was poor, and the ISO was higher than desired. I have never before seen a fish speared by a heron’s beak, and I wondered whether or not this is a common technique.
Nikon D500. Sigma 300mm with t/c. ISO 3200. f/6.7. 1/1500.
Excellent catch there. I’ve never seen this behavior before either. I wonder if it was intentional or just luck? Either way, great image and thanks for sharing.
Thanks for your kind remarks. This was my favourite image, because of the despairing look on the fish’s face:
Cool action. I have an image I took about 20 years ago of a great blue Heron spearing a vole.
Do you still have the image? I assumed that the heron’s aim was off a bit, but maybe it’s a technique I hadn’t encountered before.
Michael
I did look but couldn’t find the image. If it shows up I will remember to send it to you.
I have seen this behavior more than once. I’ve seen it with a vole and I’ve seen it with fish.
So I think it is something that is not that uncommon.
David
So glad you found the image, after all these years. Great shot!
Whatever the method, herons are deadly predators.
A nice shot, Michael. I like both images. In general, most herons and other pointy-billed fishers use their beaks as tongs, but spearing isn’t all that uncommon. Whether it’s on purpose or the prey moves during the strike I don’t know.
Nice action shot and looks like breakfast was speared trout. I like the first image over the second because the BG is more simple than the second…Jim
Hi Michael
Nice spearfish action. This photograph is well framed and I like the eye contact. The Big Blues in Conn. do spear their fish, they’re just smaller.
Peter
