Big Fish For Little Snowy
Earlier this week we saw this snowy egret snag himself a nice size fish out of the salt marsh at low tide. Normally we see the snowys only catching very tiny minnows which they pop down in great numbers. On a rare occasion such as this, we will see one almost surprise itself by catching a good size fish which sometimes they don’t even get to eat because a larger bird can take it away before the snowy has a chance to swallow it. This snowy not only got to keep and eat his fish, he wisely took it over to the muddy oyster beds to deal with. The idea behind walking out on land is that should the bird drop it, the fish won’t be able to swim away as it would if the bird was still standing in water.
Clever snowy!
Phil Lanoue Photography 
How do they manage to stay so perfectly clean and white?
Considering they spend a lot of time walking around on mud, I;m not sure how they stay so clean either. They must rinse off real well when they get wet. 🙂
The ibis (another white bird) on the other hand quite often look rather filthy. They eventually clean up nice though.
GREAT detail in those shots – I am envious!
These really are smart birds. They swallow fish head-first, so the dorsal fin doesn’t snag on the way down. But sometimes they can be so stooopid! I’ve seen “snow birds” wait patiently at a stoplight to cross a street – because at times they seem to forget they can fly.
They are smart birds and know what they are doing when it comes to swallowing down a fish.
I too have (bewilderingly) seen birds walk when a quick flight hop would seem to work much better.
Thanks for checking out these photos!
Phil, thank YOU for the great blog – and for your gifted photography work. I shall surely enjoy myself here.
I truly appreciate your interest and your very kind comments. 🙂
Foto eccezionali, sei fantastico 🙂
Ciao, Pat
Apprezzo le tue parole gentili Pat
Great shots Phil.
Thanks very much Jan.
I guess they don’t chew 🙂 Great shots Phil.
Nope, no chewing, quick gulp only. 😆 Thanks a bunch!
I am sitting in Starbucks listening to Christmas music. And then I stop by for a visit and suddenly I am transported to another place where Little Snowy welcomes me to her world.
I really enjoyed reading your description of sitting in Starbucks enjoying the Christmas music and taking a minute to check out my site to see photos of the little birds. How nice of you! I truly got a kick out of hearing this, thanks. 🙂
:D. We live in different locations, but we can never let go of our precious earth!!!
Lovely image, Phil.
Hey thanks Mike.
Surprised by too much food – just in time for Christmas. At least it wasn’t chocolate.
It may have started out as a surprise getting too much food but I bet he ended up full and happy with his meal!
I’ll have to make a point to stop over on Christma Day to see how all the marsh birds are celebrating the holiday.
It was as if I was standing right next to you watching this snowy enjoying his meal. The second photo is absolutely INCREDIBLE !
Thanks very much Emily, glad I could put you at the scene!
I’m still amazed at how they manage to maneuver the fish headfirst and then swallow it whole. Very clever snowy indeed!
That is also part of their strategy of bringing a fish onto dry land. They sometimes have to put the fish down and move it into a better position for swallowing. For really big fish this whole process can sometimes take a while.
nice shots and your knowledge about birds are fascinating.
I am happy you enjoy the photos and information about the bird’s behavior!
Stunning shots!!! I thought of watching discovery channel.
I’m so glad you liked these photos, thanks for commenting!
Going, going, gone! this is an amazing series, Phil. So sharp.
It sure was gone, and quickly too! Sometimes it takes a while but this little guy wanted his catch and made sure to get it down fast. Thanks for looking Karen!
How in the world she got that thing down is a mystery! These are stunning shots of one of my favorite birds!
Thanks very much Molly! This little snowy seemed both surprised and thrilled with it’s catch! No way was it letting a GBH take it, so a quick swallow was needed!
Thats’s really a big fish. Great shots
It is a big fish, glad you liked these photos!
Gorgeous shots Phil. How close were you to get these? They’re fabulous.
Thanks very much for checking these out and commenting! It was fairly close, almost right in front of me. The good thing for me was that the snowy did not care I was there to witness his big catch!
Hello Phil,
great shots, great work, stunning pictures!
Wish you a nice week
moni
Thanks very much moni, I appreciate you stopping in and also your kind comments!
Brilliant Pictures 🙂
Thank you very much I am happy you enjoyed these photos!
For all that we call them “bird brains”, they’re pretty smart little critters! Great shots, as usual, Phil!
That is so true, I often wonder who the ‘bird brains’ really are when I see people do so many foolish things and these birds take care of business so well. 🙂 Thanks for looking Kate!
Look at him go! Wonderful captures….
Thanks so much for your kind words!
Amazing how these birds managed to get the fish in the right position to be able to swallow it. This one looks very determined. 🙂 Great photos, Phil.
He was quite determined. Sometimes with a smaller bird like this they will conclude that their eyes were bigger then their throat and drop a fish like that. But this guy caught it, and wanted it, and sure enough he swallowed it.
Thanks Sylvia.
Spectacular 😀 😀
Thanks Paula, I appreciate you checking out these pics! 🙂
You are welcome Phil.. unfortunately I am too busy to check them out as they appear.. I hope you understand. 🙂
Oh that’s fine Paula. I’m just happy you do get a chance to view the photos and that you enjoy them! 🙂
Have a great weekend!