Yellow Crowed Night Heron Grabs Breakfast - Sunshine Skyway, FL

The Sunshine Skyway bridge is one of favorite places to visit wildlife, mostly Birds and
Dolphins. The birds are most active Sunrise and Sunset. The Dolphins mostly Sunset, and
you have to be lucky to see them.

On this particular morning, I was hanging out south of the bridge in the rest area. I
noticed a Yellow Crowned Night Heron fishing near shore between the rocks.  I sat
intently as he waited for breakfast, a crab crawling his direction. He nabbed him in a flash
and took off for shore. The show continued as he wrestled with the crab attempting to
crack his shell. Occasionally, The crab would pinch the heron and break free for a second
and the bird would reposition him in his mouth. Finally with a loud crunch, the bird
swallowed him whole.

My favorite shot is the top photo. I placed the sequence of events photographs in a
panorama below.

Date Taken: 09-24-06 7:55AM
Model: Panasonic Lumix FZ20  Shutter Speed: n/a F-Stop:f4.0 ISO:80
Focal length:45.9mm Lens:Lens: Leica 35 - 432

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