Woody Squirms His Way Into A Big Dinner

Yesterday, late afternoon in the salt marsh, we suddenly looked up and a wood stork came walking out of the reeds with a huge eel he’d just caught. Actually, we believe his catch may be a siren which is a type of giant salamander.

In any case Woody was thrilled with his dinner entrée until the struggle caught the attention of one of his friends. Woody was not about to share or give up his wriggling meal so he quickly got away from the uninvited guest and ended up right in front of me.

The battle continued for a total of five minutes until Woody was finally able to wrestle down the unhappy creature in one whole swallow.

You can tell from the look of satisfaction on Woody’s face that this was the finest meal he had eaten in quite some time. The siren however, must have had a different viewpoint on how the day turned out.

16 thoughts on “Woody Squirms His Way Into A Big Dinner”

Charlie@Seattle Trekker on October 10, 2015 at 6:13 pm said:

Watching them eat just always amazes me: You did such an amazing job in capturing the action.

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- Phil Lanoue on October 10, 2015 at 7:49 pm said:
  
  Hey thanks much Charlie glad you liked these. The subject matter was a little rough with the slimey eel and Woody doesn’t exactly have a pretty face but so it goes in nature.
  
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anotherday2paradise on October 10, 2015 at 7:25 pm said:

Oh my goodness! Great captures, Phil. I’m not even a teensy bit jealous of Woody. He’s quite welcome to his wriggly meal. 🙂

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- Phil Lanoue on October 10, 2015 at 7:55 pm said:
  
  Thanks a million Sylvia and I agree 100%. Woody is welcome to keep his prize, I wouldn’t want to even have to touch that creepy eel, forget about eating it! 😮
  
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Inger on October 10, 2015 at 10:08 pm said:

Great photos! He really got a big no, no wonder he looks happy!

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Mary Strong-Spaid on October 10, 2015 at 10:46 pm said:

At first I thought the bird was trying to swallow a snake.
Regardless of what it was….that was a lot to gulp down!!

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Gunta on October 10, 2015 at 10:53 pm said:

Slurp!

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Angela on October 11, 2015 at 4:10 am said:

Imagine that huge eel wiggling and squirming in there.

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foxleylady on October 11, 2015 at 11:01 am said:

Just the thought of that eel squirming about in Woody’s stomach like that ………This is definitely a Thea moment!

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- Angela on October 14, 2015 at 3:42 am said:
  
  I keep looking at his tummy wondering if the eel was wiggling around in there. LOL.
  
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foxleylady on October 11, 2015 at 11:05 am said:

PS sorry to hear you have had even more rain! I always thought that that was a UK prerogative! Very glad to hear that you and Alyce have come through ok. I do hope that the water levels begin to go down soon, for the sake of the animals and humans.

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Birder's Journey on October 11, 2015 at 4:17 pm said:

WOw, that was so much better than a skinny snake! I confess I heard myself whisper “Gulp” at the final shot ;-D

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Lyle Krahn on October 11, 2015 at 6:09 pm said:

You’ve done a great job catching the action here again. I’m pretty sure I prefer my dinner to stay still in my mouth.

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Kyle on October 14, 2015 at 9:30 am said:

Amazing capture here too! So in the end the fighting big siren was swallowed down alive?? I wonder if they prey stand any slim chance (that size!) of escaping or even damaging Woody’s stomach/insides if eaten in that condition as well?! If not, can the bird really digest its unlucky prey bones and all.

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- Kyle on April 25, 2016 at 2:06 pm said:
  
  ??
  
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Beverly HBSP Gift shop on October 16, 2015 at 9:13 pm said:

As always, you got some great photos! I think the Wood storks are so graceful and beautiful.

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