Heron on the Hunt

jeffashman · May 22, 2023

I came across this Great Blue Heron at a place called Bittern Marsh. He got himself a big ol' mudbug for his lunch! We've had quite a bit of rain, so the water levels were up. Another month and there should be more birds in the area, and the lotus flowers should be in bloom.

1 Stalking the prey

may20202308 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

2 Located and locked!

may20202309 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

3 Sploosh!

may20202310 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

4 Try and keep hold!

may20202311 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

5 Got it!

may20202312 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

wobe · May 22, 2023

Very nice sequence!
trying to zoom in to identify - is a mudbug a type of crayfish?

terri · May 22, 2023

wobe said:
Very nice sequence!
trying to zoom in to identify - is a mudbug a type of crayfish?

I was wondering the same thing! Looks like a very large crayfish, or crawfish as I've heard them called.

terri · May 22, 2023

Terrific shooting! It's challenging to get a sequence like this that tells a story. You got all the action shots perfectly here. #3 is a hoot!

John 2 · May 23, 2023

I like a series that tells a story. Nice work.

jeffashman · May 23, 2023

wobe said:
Very nice sequence!
trying to zoom in to identify - is a mudbug a type of crayfish?

Thank you! Yes, a mudbug is a crayfish. Also known as a crawfish or a crawdad or a rock lobster (Cue the B-52s...).

terri said:
I was wondering the same thing! Looks like a very large crayfish, or crawfish as I've heard them called.

Yep, same thing. The crawdads can sing...

terri said:
Terrific shooting! It's challenging to get a sequence like this that tells a story. You got all the action shots perfectly here. #3 is a hoot!

Thank you! Usually they fly off, but this one was more interested in getting lunch, so I was able to capture the sequence of events.

John 2 said:
I like a series that tells a story. Nice work.

Thank you!

PJM · May 23, 2023

Great action set. I might have also taken that last one and cropped in closer on him with the mudbug in his beak.

jeffashman · May 23, 2023

PJM said:
Great action set. I might have also taken that last one and cropped in closer on him with the mudbug in his beak.

Thank you! I thought about that, but it already very heavily cropped, so I think there would be a further drop in IQ, but I'll give it a try and see what the results are.