Great Egret vs. Western Lesser Siren.

[jfoureyes]

I got this Great Egret last week at BBSP. It caught a Western Lesser Siren along the bank of Elm Lake and had it caught, killed, and downed in about five minutes. The rascal turned its back to me and walked behind a large willow tree to eat it and I didn't get any photos of that, but I knew the end anyway... a fine meal for the Great Egret. I was about 30 feet from action and it's really amazing to see how fast these big ol' birds can move when the need to.

[houtex01]

Great action shots Jim...too bad you didn't get to capture the whole meal...

Ron

[dlanter]

Great shots Jim. The pinkish duckweed in the background really helps too. In a couple of the shots, the eel appears to have legs. At first I thought it might actually be a salamander of some type, but I've never seen a salamander that big.

[ldelacruz]

What is that thing?

[WanaM3]

Nice shots. I always thought that BBSP was just about the gators. I've never been there, but will have to make the trip and see what it's all about. Nice sequence.

[Kenj8246]

That's one unlucky eel, huh? Wrong place, wrong time. Love the colors, Jim.

[corralup]

Those are called Sirens! Excellent images!!!!

[ElanR]

Super series, Jim!

[corralup]

Here's some info on that creature.

Greater Siren - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[DigitalScape]

Very nice series, Jim - I like the colors you captured.

[Patti Edens]

Excellent series Jim! That last shot looks like he's showing you his prize right before running off to hide and eat it.

Thanks for the info Sandy. I had no idea what that was.

[jfoureyes]

Originally Posted by corralup

Here's some info on that creature.

Greater Siren - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Of course this puts you at the top of my hero list!! I just thought it was a fresh water eel... thanks a ton my friend I changed the ID for the poor little thing...

[jfoureyes]

Originally Posted by houtex01

Great action shots Jim...too bad you didn't get to capture the whole meal...

Ron

Thanks Ron! Sometimes things just don't work out in nature photography...i was pretty happy with what I got. I'm not all that hot on action shooting so these were just a lot to do with being lucky. None of the real action photos came out because of motion blur.

Originally Posted by dlanter

Great shots Jim. The pinkish duckweed in the background really helps too. In a couple of the shots, the eel appears to have legs. At first I thought it might actually be a salamander of some type, but I've never seen a salamander that big.

Thanks Dan! Sandy got the proper ID for it... made me very happy!

Originally Posted by ldelacruz

What is that thing?

Check out Sandy's second post.

Originally Posted by WanaM3

Nice shots. I always thought that BBSP was just about the gators. I've never been there, but will have to make the trip and see what it's all about. Nice sequence.

Thanks Jerome! BBSP is one of the best nature areas in this part of Texas. I do all of my photography out there all year long and been going out there for over 25 years... a great place!

Originally Posted by Kenj8246

That's one unlucky eel, huh? Wrong place, wrong time. Love the colors, Jim.

Thanks Kenny! One of them had a great day and the other had a really bad day!!!

Originally Posted by ElanR

Super series, Jim!

Thanks for the comment Elan. I just got lucky!

Originally Posted by DigitalScape

Very nice series, Jim - I like the colors you captured.

Thanks a lot John!

Originally Posted by Patti Edens

Excellent series Jim! That last shot looks like he's showing you his prize right before running off to hide and eat it.

Thanks for the info Sandy. I had no idea what that was.

Thanks Patti! He did pose with it for a few seconds before moving off to finish the meal...It was pretty cool to get part of it anyway.

[tech1961]

Great captures Jim.

[labmansid]

Nice work capturing the action, Jim. I've seen several birds tackling those sirens, and they don't go down without putting up a good fight!