12 February 2010

Heron Can't Open Lunchbox

Juvenile Grey Heron (Bloureier) basking in the late morning sun

One of the regulars at the camera set at the pond was this Grey Heron (Bloureier). He frequently walked past the camera. He can also frequently be see wading through the water in the background. Something interesting happened at the pond on Sunday afternoon. The heron managed to catch a turtle.

Heron holding a turtle in his mouth

But, lucky for the turtle, the heron did not appear to know what to do with it and it managed to make a hasty retreat.

Turtle scampering for the water and heron looking on, a little confused

I wonder whether a more experienced heron might be able to eat a turtle that size? I'm pretty sure he can't swallow it whole, so I guess he will have to eat it piece by piece somehow...


  1. Herons can peck out the meat from the spaces between the carapace and plastron. I once saw a bunch of neonate peninsular cooter (Chrysemys peninsularis) shells on a floating island in Florida's Orange Lake, each neatly scraped clean of their insides by herons.

  2. Ah I see. Thanks for the info.

  3. The heron near us is so elusive - I still have not been able to take a photo of him - did you have long to wait to get these great shots?

  4. Hi Leavesnbloom, I was lucky with these shots because I got them early on, but since then I've often seen the heron wading through the water in the background.

    He has only left the water's edge twice: Once (possibly) to check out the camera and then again later with the turtle.