Doing Lunch

Just before noon today, along the marshy bank of the Indian River in Florida, we watched as a great blue heron (not very visible in front of the rocks in the center of the photo) caught, killed, and ate—in one huge gulp—a not-very-small but very unfortunate rat. We often see these patient hunters standing in the shallows, stock-still, waiting for a small fish to swim into view, and then spearing it with a lightning-fast jab of their pointed bill... but never anyone from the rodent food group.
It was an extraordinary sight. Without going into unnecessary (as in ‘gross’) detail, it took a while for the heron to figure out how to swallow its catch. When it did, the bulge was clearly visible going down the heron’s long, curved neck.
I’m pretty sure I involuntarily shivered when it was over. And wasn’t quite as hungry as I might have been for a while afterwards. -DJN