{"id":9980,"date":"2024-08-11T22:16:54","date_gmt":"2024-08-12T05:16:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/matchgrun.com\/blog\/?p=9980"},"modified":"2024-08-11T22:16:56","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T05:16:56","slug":"great-blue-heron-fishing-sequence-south-platte-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matchgrun.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/11\/great-blue-heron-fishing-sequence-south-platte-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Blue Heron Fishing Sequence, South Platte River"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In May, I made a trip to the South Platte River. The river was flowing strongly as a result of releasing run-off from the upstream reservoir at Chatfield. I found this Great Blue Heron on the far bank of the river.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"3008-0004-Great-Blue-Heron-South-Platte-River\"
Great Blue Heron, South Platte River.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Here the heron was fishing for the next meal.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"3008-0005-Great-Blue-Heron-Fishing-South-Platte-River\"
Great Blue Heron Fishing, South Platte River.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Soon the heron caught a fish. This looked like a big one about 16 inches in length.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"3008-0020-Great-Blue-Heron-Catch-No-1\"
Great Blue Heron Catch, No 1.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I made several images of the heron as it was aligning the fish to swallow.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"3008-0024-Great-Blue-Heron-Catch-No-2\"
Great Blue Heron Catch, No 2.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It was amazing to watch the fish make its way down the heron gullet!<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"3008-0034-Great-Blue-Heron-Catch-No-3\"
Great Blue Heron Catch, No 3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Wow. What a huge fish!<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"3008-0036-Great-Blue-Heron-Catch-No-4\"
Great Blue Heron Catch, No 4.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Half way down to the stomach.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"3008-0038-Great-Blue-Heron-Catch-No-5\"
Great Blue Heron Catch, No 5.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I never knew that this heron has such a huge capacity in its stomach. I have seen some videos where a Great Blue caught and swallowed a larger fish; it is much more interesting to see this in action.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"3008-0045-Great-Blue-Heron-Satisfied\"
Great Blue Heron, Satisfied.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

That heron looks really satisfied. I wonder how long until the fish is digested and when the next meal will take place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In May, I made a trip to the South Platte River. The river was flowing strongly as a result of releasing run-off from the upstream reservoir at Chatfield. I found this Great Blue Heron on the far bank of the river. Here the heron was fishing for the next meal. Soon the heron caught a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1309,628,1462,25,1929,1547],"class_list":["post-9980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-general","tag-catch","tag-fishing","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-river","tag-sequence","tag-south-platte-river"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t