Great Blue Heron are by far the best fisherman to be found at Big Beef Creek, though fish are so plentiful during the sculpin runs that even crows and gulls get their fill. There’s no doubt Bald Eagles could easily catch all the fish they wanted to, but apparently they’ve found it easier to steal a fish from Great Blue Herons than catch one themselves.
Immature Bald Eagles seem to enjoy flying over a flock of Great Blue Herons just to harass them,
but mature Bald Eagles don’t waste their time just flying over. They single out a Great Blue Heron that has already caught a fish,
drive it off,
land, and take off with their catch,
ignoring any other herons in the vicinity. A truly efficient bully.
It’s interesting that no matter how tough, capable & hard-working any given creature is, it will always take the path of greatest efficiency/least effort to complete the task. There are no treadmills in nature! If herons were able to put up more resistance, there would come a point where the eagle calculates: “Too much trouble, may as well snag my own fish.” But until that point is reached, raw brute nature suggests stealing is the way to go…
That must be why the U.S. chose the Bald Eagle for their national symbol.
Yeah, we were the eagles, and Native Americans the herons…
Stunning shots, Loren!