MyOlympus.org
The Photographic Community for Users of Olympus micro 4/3 digital cameras and E-series DSLRs
MyOlympus.orgPublic folders > Common area > Great Blue Heron - 18

Great Blue Heron - 18

Great Blue Heron - 18
Copyright ©2007, Leon Plympton
Viewed times

Safe again on the far side of the canal. The GBH's upper and lower beaks are once again pierced into the catfish, this time the underside.

When it comes to scaled fish GBHs generally juggle the fish around in their mouths until the fish's head is pointing downward (read that: head-first down the GBH's gullet).

On the other hand, when it comes to catfish, once the GBH reels in a catfish and the GBH is on solid ground, the catfish gets tossed on the ground and pierced time and again with the the GBH's (both upper and lower) beak. Once the catfish is quite dead it gets a final wash in the shallow water before getting positioned for the head-first plunge into the digestive process that awaits.

It has always amazed me how a GBH can eat a catfish without suffering internal injuries from a jab from the sharp spines on the catfish's dorsal and pectoral fins.

As a young fisherman I learned the hard way that the spines of a catfish are extremely sharp, and that a wet, thrashing catfish can jab a person several times in no time, resulting in rather painful puncture wounds.

Photographer: Leon Plympton
Folder: Common area
Uploaded: 19-Aug-2007 22:10 CEST
Current Rating: 9.00/1
View all ratings
Delete my rating
Model release available:
Camera: Olympus E1
Exposure time: 1/400
Aperture: f-4.5
Focal length: 150 (300) mm
Lens: ZD 40-150mm
Focusing method: Spot
ISO: 200
White balance: Auto
Flash: no
Image format: SHQ
Processing applied: Same as GBH 16 and GBH 17, except I had to re-size to 800 x 600, because the larger file exceeded the 500KB limit.
Various:
Image resized to: 482x800

Comment/Rate Share this Image

NO SUBJECT

Nice shot of the GBH in it's natural habitat....
Cheers.............Fons

Fonzy - at 11:49 CEST on 20-Aug-2007 [Reply]

Great Blue Heron - 18 - re-visited:

Fons -

Thanks again; soon after this shot was taken the GBH went to a shady spot to cool off.

-leon

Leon Plympton at 14:02 CEST on 20-Aug-2007 [Reply]

LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!

VERY GOOD IMAGE, LEON!
PIECE OF ART!
THANKS TO YOU I GAINED SOME KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THAT FISH.

REGARDS,
NATASHA SS

Natasha SS at 15:37 CEST on 20-Aug-2007 [Reply]

Great Blue Heron - 18 - re-visite:

Natasha -

Thanks so much. I wish I hadn't needed to re-size the image so much; a good bit of detail was lost doing so.
I'm just amazed at the force the GBH must exert when thrusting into a catfish like this one; their skin is extremely durable.

-leon

Leon Plympton at 00:34 CEST on 21-Aug-2007 [Reply]