Exploring Kootenay Lake

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.

The redfish (Kokanee, which are landlocked Sockeye Salmon) are spawning again. Crowds of people have gathered to watch them; a Black Bear helps himself to the fish; mallards await the tasty eggs; gulls stand by, and ravens gorge on fish. Despite the fact that a cornucopia is available, there can be acrimony among these predators.

So it was that I watched a subadult eagle steal a fish from some ravens. The irony is that a recent posting showed a raven trying unsuccessfully to take a fish from an eagle. Now, this posting shows an eagle stealing one from ravens. 

The Kokanee have crowded the stream as the males compete for females.

A small unkindness of ravens is gathering to consume one of the fish.

Overhead, a sub-adult Bald Eagle spots them and sees an opportunity.

Swooping down, it steals the fish, now clutched in its claws, from the ravens.

The ravens scatter amid vociferous complaints.

There is nothing the ravens can do about it except whine as the eagle flies off with its prize.
 

Photographing loons can be a challenge. The birds tend to avoid people and stay well offshore in deep water. Nevertheless, over the years, I have accrued some close views and even some of loons on nests and others swimming with chicks. But, I have never managed good shots of a loon eating a fish. Given the amount of time a loon spends fishing, this is a bit unexpected. 

Saturday, I watched a loon down a fish. As usual, the loon was far offshore, so the pictures are so-so, but they were fun to get.

Following a dive, a loon surfaced with a rather large fish in its bill. As the loon cannot tear it apart, the fish must be aligned with the bill so that it can be swallowed whole. As the loon tried to manoeuvre the fish, it was dropped a few times and had to be recaptured. 

It took more than a minute for the loon to get the fish properly aligned, but once done, the head tipped back and the whole fish quickly vanished down the gullet. 
 

This is a saga of an eagle (two-year old Bald), a fish (refused to offer ID), and a raven (bad guy of this piece).

“I don’t know why you are looking up at me. This is my fish and you cannot have it.”

“There are few pleasures greater than feasting on tasty fish guts.”

“However, here is the deal: I prefer to eat alone.”

“So, when an obnoxious Raven (surely a tautology) tried to intimidate me into sharing my fish, I demurred.”

“Raven, I am over three times your weight with a sharper bill and claws. I am unimpressed by your posturing.”