Great Egret Stalks A Lizard
A stalking Great Egret was quicker than I. I saw it focused, but the egret was looking straight ahead and not down at the water’s edge.
What was he focused on?
A couple more steps, and the Great Egret reached out with that long neck and grabbed a lizard off a palm tree trunk.
The Great Egret had the lizard before I got my first shot.
Great Egret with a lizard for a meal
I took over 30 photos and selected six more from them to show how the egret handled his meal, holding it tight and then shifting it.
Great Egret eating a lizard
And down the hatch the poor little lizard went….
Gulp! 🤭 Such a beautiful bird, Donna. 😎🌴
😉 Thank you, John!
Crunch, crunch, crunch…
Yellow seems to be the a theme.
I cannot imagine it being tasty….but I bet the egret enjoyed it.
Yeah. I’m thinking that there just isn’t enough salt or hot sauce to help.
😝
Good sequence of shots. I wonder if it tickled on the way down?
I bet it did! 🙂
Great catch – wonderful pictures!
Thank you, Sheree!
Magnificent shots.
Thank you, Cindy!
Love, love this series, Donna. So very beautiful !
Thank you, Isabel!
Amazing shots! Right place. Right time and you were ready. Great job. 😊
Thank you, Irene! It was certainly a RTRP surprise! 😊
Great action series, Donna. Sometimes an egret’s concentration pays off.
Thank you, Ellen! When they do a direct focus, it’s our clue to aim and focus. 😊
😁😁😁
Nice series Donna! It is interesting what they will eat! Over the years I have seen a wide variety of meals you wonder how they can even swallow them!
Thank you, Reed! Same here! Once I saw a GBH grab a frog and then quickly spit it out, followed by washing its beak in the water with its mouth wide open. It must have tasted nasty, lol. I guess anything is game! lol
Nice series, except for the little Anole who played a starring role.
Thanks Ted, at least he got his five minutes of fame, right?!! 🙂
What a great series of pictures! So clear and sharp. As I watch creatures swallow their meals alive, I can’t imagine what it must be like to have something large like a fish or lizard squirming inside my body.
Thank you, Susan, I wonder the same thing. Gives me the shivers thinking about it!
Nice shots!
Thank you, David!
Awesome documentation!!
Thank you, Indira!!
Indeed a beautiful bird! Nice shots! 🙂
Thank you! 🙂
Love love your photos
Thank you, Seraja!
Great catch for you both. It wasn’t that lizard’s day, was it?
Thank you, Deborah, no, it was not!
Eating prey is always a great capture with birds Donna . That last gulp usually gets the job done 🙂
Thank you, Ashley! That last gulp sure did, he quickly went back to looking for more. 🙂
I love birds, but I really love reptiles. I never know who to cheer for in a battle like that! But a great photo of the “circle of life.” One day they’ll all live side by side again without the fear of being eaten! Isaiah 11:6 “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.” — William
I’m with you, William, sometimes I’m not sure who I want to win, but it is the circle of life. As much as I love Eagles, I did not like the one that tried to swoop down and attack “my” Osprey nest with momma Bella and the chicks inside, me thinking the Eagle was going to snatch one of the chicks. I screamed at the Eagle so loud, I imagine my neighbors heard me.
Good work again.
Thank you, Tom!
Great series, Donna. You can’t help but feel a little badly for the lizard. Not his lucky day. 😉
Thank you, Eliza! I’m with you, it certainly was not his day. I’d have been happy if the lizard fell out of the egret’s mouth and hit the ground running for safety. Now that would be some cool action shots! 🙂
Reblogged this on Wolf's Birding and Bonsai Blog.
They hunt with such precision. Excellent series, Donna!
I don’t know how they can move sooooo very slow sometimes, I’d lose my balance! 😉 Thank you, Belinda!
NNNOO!!! Poor darling! I admire Egrets, I don’t want to know they easy lizards.
Sorry! The circle of life isn’t always easy to accept, but it is a must.
*Eat … stupid auto-incorrect that I actually turned off.