Monday, February 22, 2010

Birds of Sanibel: Fishing Egret

Part II of Birds of Sanibel Island, Florida

On the road through the Darling Wildlife Refuge.....

...we stopped to watch this Great Egret.

He was fishing...

...and was successful!

He then flew closer to the road. I wasn't sure why but was glad so I could get a better picture.

The fish was alive and he was squeezing and banging the fish against the ground....

...again and again, he squeezed the fish.

until it was dead and then he swallowed it whole.

Ah, now he's satisfied and doesn't mind posing for me.

Right after this, we saw an alligator with some kind of prey but I couldn't get a picture of him in the murky waters...


  1. What a wonderful series of photos! He's such a beautiful bird!

  2. this series..i really enjoy watching the egret fish..and the smash the fish like you saw..and gulp it down..
    Nice captures!

  3. bettyl--thanks for the visit. He is beautiful.

    dAwN--wish I would have remembered to videotape this (forgot I had it on the camera).

  4. Lovely birds - we miss that about Florida. We lived just south of Sanibel for 10 years.

  5. (cringing) nature is cruel, isn't it- I was thinking that it's a horrible way to die.
    The egret has amazing, long legs!

  6. Cool photo sequence--it's interesting how egrets manage to swallow such large prey whole. Great that you got to see it!

  7. Ohhhhh...lucky, lucky you! I love The Ding Darling nature preserve. I haven't been for a while, though. Great series here...I loved it. I'm going to Sarasota next month. Hope I get to see a few of these birds. Now to read part 1....

  8. Nice catch! The fish and your picture! I can't wait to see some egrets around. :D