i have a photo from two years ago of a great blue heron at juanita bay park
attempting to swallow a spawning salmon that probably outweighed the bird at
least two to one... after thirty minutes or so, the salmon was dead, and
the heron gave up... it was a heroic struggle, though...

this link (
http://www.parkgallery.org/galleries/Park,%20Caren/Birds/03%20%20Long-legged
%20Waders/Great%20Blue%20Herons%20(GBHE)/slides/Great%20Blue%20Heron,%20with
%20salmon%20%203949-403%20-%20Juanita%20Bay%20Park.html ) will take you
directly to the heron in question... i have to ask, though, what the heron
thought he was doing... to me, at least, it was obvious that, without
hacking it to pieces, he didn't stand a chance. not only was he outweighed,
but the girth of the salmon was probably 50% larger (at a bare minimum) than
his mouth, and probably almost as tall/long as the heron... this was NOT a
small fish :)

00 caren
http://www.parkgallery.org
mercer slough nature area


-----Original Message-----
From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu]On Behalf Of Kevin
Mack
Sent: Tuesday, 2006 October 03 17:24
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] A gull that bit off more than he
couldchew...errr...swallow


Hi Tweets,

I'm sure we've all seen birds swallowing prey that seemed far too large for
them to actually swallow. Whenever I see a gull trying to choke down a sea
star, I always wonder how they keep from choking. Well...apparently they
don't always keep from choking. On Sunday I discovered the carcass of an
immature gull at Ebey's Landing on Whidbey Island. A very large fish was
lodged securily in his throat. For photos visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96123763 at N00/

Anyone else ever come across something similar?

Kevin Mack
Edmonds, WA
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