I have sought shots such as these for years.
It is surprising that in all the time I have spent watching the Great Blue Heron hunt for fish, I had not seen it catch and eat one (although, I had seen one catch a vole). In under a minute yesterday morning, I watched a heron alight, catch a fish, and swallow it. That one meal might sate it for days.
I had wandered out with my camera to watch a kingfisher, but that delight was quickly eclipsed when a juvenile heron landed in front of me and immediately reached for something in the shallows.
It retrieved a Large-scale Sucker. However, the fish, being athwart the bill, was not aligned for swallowing.
So, the fish was dropped and picked up again near the head. The imbalance caused the body of the fish to rotate more in line with the heron’s bill. 
That being done, the whole fish quickly vanished down the gullet.
I’ve certainly not seen them capture and eat anything that size. Well done!
These are amazing photos Alistair. All the time you have logged waiting has definately paid off!
That’s quite a prize – for both of you!
Christine, yes I do not know if the heron or I was happier.
Great series!
Wow, Alistair! (Again). 🙂 A red letter (or maybe blue/grey?) day. Fantastic pictures.