A heron (or egret) in hunting mode delivers a fascinating, repeating sequence of events.
For unpredictably short or long periods the heron is a study in concentration and stillness, until that stillness is suddenly shattered by the bird’s speargun-like attack.
The prey – usually a small fish, crustacean, mollusc, amphibian or insect – is swallowed, rapidly.
The sequence then repeats…
For obvious reasons, a photographer cannot “capture” this behaviour from a very close vantage point, directly in front of the heron’s beak/“speargun”.
However, one can sometimes get surprisingly close, “from behind”.
Photo, copyright Doug Spencer was taken at 4.22 pm on 05 February in Keoladeo National Park, Rajasthan, India.
The bird is a striated heron, Butorides striata; this species is also often seen in northern Australia’s mangroves, estuaries and tidal flats.