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Friday, April 25, 2014

"Lunch" - Photograph

 © All Rights Reserved
 © All Rights Reserved
© All Rights Reserved
(Click on image to enlarge)
I took these photographs of a Great Egret at Southport Beach in Fairfield, CT this past week.

When the Great Egret first caught this mouse like animal, it walked on shore with it. It seemed to be chewing on it for a short time, then it walked back to the water and repeatedly dunked the creature, and chewed some more. I finally figured out it was crushing and/or flattening the creature, so that it could ultimately swallow it whole.

I've seen them catch prey before, and usually they just swallowed it immediately, so the "chewing" action was perplexing, and the dunking in the water was even more so, until the process, which took several minutes, was completed.

All of these photos were taken during the dunking process.

The first photo is my entry for:

I'd Rather Be Birding
Saturday's Critters
Weekly Top Shot #132
at

16 comments:

  1. johannaApril 26, 2014 at 8:10 AM

    i totally can understand how hooked you are on these egrets! they are such elegant birds. awesome pictures!

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  2. Amy BurzeseApril 26, 2014 at 2:32 PM

    Interesting. I'm sure they are fun to watch. Great shots!

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  3. orchid0324April 26, 2014 at 7:21 PM

    Dearest Anne;
    Wonderful photographs of egret♡♡♡
    They are very beautiful; haha, having lunch (mouse like animal)!

    Sending you Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan, xoxo Miyako*

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  4. Maude LynnApril 26, 2014 at 7:59 PM

    Beautiful pictures!

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  5. KarenApril 26, 2014 at 8:09 PM

    Such beautiful birds. I had no idea they ate mammals!

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  6. UnknownApril 26, 2014 at 8:56 PM

    Neat capture Anne. I bet is was fun to sit and watch the egret.

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  7. RajeshApril 26, 2014 at 11:57 PM

    Great series of images of egret in action.

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  8. eileeninmdApril 27, 2014 at 5:07 AM

    Great shots of the egret with its catch! Thank you for sharing your post with my critter party.. Have a happy Sunday!

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  9. Anni April 27, 2014 at 5:27 AM

    How very interesting. I would not have known they would do this without you showing/telling about the ritual. Thank you for that.

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  10. RoanApril 27, 2014 at 7:48 AM

    Egrets are beautiful birds. I don't know what I thought they served up for dinner, but never thought it would be a mouse. Nice capture!

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  11. AnonymousApril 27, 2014 at 8:32 AM

    beautiful bird, I'm sure it enjoyed its lunch

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  12. UnknownApril 27, 2014 at 9:00 AM

    Very interesting photos!

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  13. Phil SladeApril 27, 2014 at 11:00 AM

    Great pictures Anne. I guess that mose was a bit hard to swallow so aliitle water softened it up a little? Gruesome, but hey that's life sometimes.

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  14. NatureFootstepApril 27, 2014 at 12:24 PM

    great shots Anne, loved to see them. :)

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  15. AnonymousApril 27, 2014 at 5:56 PM

    Amazing photo! Love the egrets contrast with the background! #weeklystopshot

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  16. AnonymousApril 28, 2014 at 6:13 PM

    Great series. Beautiful bird.

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