This fellow showed up for a couple days, a few years ago. It stood by the edge of the pond, gobbling up my toads, then it left.
I don’t know what it was but it ate a lot of my frog collection.
Thanks to this post over at Affinity I learn that this may have been a Great Blue Snacker.
Crunchy Frog is quite tasty.
Heron today, Gannet tomorrow.
What a beauty! That’s a fab capture, too. I rarely see them, and when I do, they aren’t terribly fond of humans shoving a camera at them. Years ago, I got some bad photos of one.
Caine@#3: My camera’s got a good frame-rate on rapid fire, and I generally shoot auto-everything unless I’m in the studio. So it came out pretty well. That’s maximum resolution, cropped down.
As you can see, he was going “camera boy! I am leaving!”
Your toads? [peers over glasses] Taking them with you when you leave? We are but custodians of the wildlife on this planet Marcus. Neat photo btw.
Rob@#5:
Your toads?
(thinks really hard, then pulls the “bullshit” lever)
I am their guardian archon! I protect their abode and (generally) keep ATVs from squishing them, and rescue them from lawn mowers. After 10 years of rescuing them, there probably isn’t a toad on this property that isn’t descended from one that owes its life to me!
Nice picture.
Marcus @ 6, well played. This time…
As I said over at Affinity, I’ve seen them opportunistically feed on small lizards on the lawn and patio of a Florida home. Majestic critters, they are quite tall in the flesh in person. Mostly eat fish, but they’ll take a chance at anything small enough to swallow whole.