what's for dinner?

[skyhunter]

it was July 3rd at 6:57 pm and there was water on the lens of the P41 when this image was captured so the quality is poor. what do you think that is in the heron's mouth?

[Lawdwaz]

I'd love to know.....Baby duck? Hell if I know....

[growalot]

looks like a baby beaver...

[Pygmy]

It's a bullhead..You can see the pectoral fins and whiskers. After studying the picture a little more, I can also see the claudal fins,anal fin and tailfin.

The bird is holding the fish crossways in it's beak, with the tail toward the camera.

Edited July 11, 2012 by Pygmy

[papabear]

looks like a lobset to me

papabear

[burmjohn]

Ha that's awesome.

[Pygmy]

Ha that's awesome.

I swear those herons will eat ANY critter they can get in thier mouth..

Last year while visiting my sister in Florida, I watched a heron eat a water snake..It was not a small snake, either, at least 3 feet long...The heron grabbed the snake on the edge of a pond, and ran with it into an adjacent lawn, where the grass was short...He dropped it in the lawn and proceed to peck the SNOT out it until he had it nicely subdued, and perhaps "tenderized" a bit..Then he took it headfirst and swallowed the whole snake..Took him two or three minutes to get it down..I could see the snake writhing inside his gullet as he was swallowing it.. He'd have made Linda Lovelace envious...

Edited July 11, 2012 by Pygmy

[GreeneHunter]

Crawfish ?

[Paula]

too big for crawfish, head almost looks like bullhead but not tail. then it also looks like it has a beak, but that tail almost looks flat. tell us!

[WNYBuckHunter]

Bullhead, its just not laying flat or straight, the tail looks curved to the left.

[Pygmy]

The fish was no doubt writhing in the bird's beak when the picture was taken, hence the curve of the tail.

[skyhunter]

It's a bullhead..You can see the pectoral fins and whiskers. After studying the picture a little more, I can also see the claudal fins,anal fin and tailfin.

The bird is holding the fish crossways in it's beak, with the tail toward the camera.

yep, like you said they will try and kill some big stuff. Looked like a catfish to me as well. I wonder if they need to chop up fish like this before they eat it or can they still manage to swallow something with this girth. I had a nice pic last year of a heron with a big fish that I'm not quite sure of as well, but I'm leaning towards a bass on this one:

[Pygmy]

Bluegill or sunfish...Not enough length compared to girth for a bass..

Great picture..Really shows off the heron's plumes..

Edited July 11, 2012 by Pygmy

[skyhunter]

Bluegill or sunfish...Not enough length compared to girth for a bass..

Great picture..Really shows off the heron's plumes..

thanks. in that heron pic the fish is curled quite a bit and the tail would extend when the fish is straightened out. Taking that into consideration for me, rules out the panfish. That leaves crappie and bass and I have yet to catch a crappie in this creek but have caught largemouth bass who often look short and stubby.

thanks for the call on the first picture. Now here is the picture that got me hooked on trailcaming years ago. This was my first "homebrew" cam and there was no doubt that the fish in this herons mouth was a catfish/bullhead.

Edited July 11, 2012 by skyhunter