Hungry gull,
in Coeur d’Alene Idaho,
doesn’t believe in catch and release,
and never feels too full to fly!
Yellow billed stork in Kruger National Park catches catfish at Sunset Dam,
and needs a leg up to swallow it whole!
Cheers to you from your feast & fly feathered fowl friends~
Wow!! How can the Gull do that? Amazing photos, Cindy! 😊
That was exactly my reaction!
😉
The thing I most could not believe, was that he flew away immediately after that last bit of tail passed through his beak!
It’s a glutton!
Certainly at least very hungry! 😉
What a good time to have thumbs!
Fingers too……. 😉
Someone’s eyes are not too big for its stomach after all! 😂 Makes me hungry for some fish…
Laughing….
What? No chips?
The nerve!!
Clever birds. Cleverer Cindy, to catch the moment!
Awww, you are so nice and so appreciated Margaret! დ
Sometimes these birds are pure gluttons. Great shots, Cindy!
They love to eat and fly! 😉
A fascinating way to eat!
I had some dates long ago that ate almost like this! 😉
🙂 🙂 🙂
It’s amazing that that whole fish went in there!
He obviously is an expert and gulping down dinner! 😉
It is amazing how they can make their “catch” just disappear.. You sure do get darn good pictures !!
Awww, thanks much & cheers! დ
Fun photos. Not like Pelicans with beaks too big for their bellies.
Finally managed to start getting notices when you post. Haven’t had any in over a year. Thought covid had closed you down.
How strange….. Glad to hear it’s working again! დ
Now that’s a mouthful!
He probably will need to burp…..
Fantastic action shots, Cindy. What gulps!!
They apparently never eat more than they can swallow, and fly 😉
Like short snakes with beaks.
Yep, but with feathers, and can fly. They remind me of dinosaurs.
They have such a delicate way of gulping their food down. These are extraordinarily photos, Cindy.
Grazie mille Rebecca დ
Prego!!!
დ
Love to you Rebecca დ
Extraordinary!
Thanks my friend დ
It is amazing what they can swallow whole!
Breathing is of secondary importance…. 😉
Really enjoyed these meal time shots, Cindy!
Glad you did & thank you! დ
My pleasure.
დ
You said a mouthful.
I was just speaking for the birdie who was speechless at that moment! 😉
Great captures of the gull swallowing such a huge fish, Cindy! Absolutely amazing photography!
So appreciated Peter, thank you! დ
It’s always a miracle to me how birds can swallow such large fishes…
Wonderful shots, dear Cindy! Have a fine day and stay save!
It is incredible to see isn’t it! They are well engineered for eating on the go. Thank you my friend and you stay safe too დ
Great pics Cindy. Once I watched a young gull swallow a big starfish whole. I was a bit worried about it. It took a very long time for the gull to finally get the starfish down and for a while I thought it was going to choke on it. That’s one enormous fish the gull has!
Alison
WOW! That is incredible and hard to fathom! It must have been quite a sequence to see. Starfish are tough creatures, but so are gulls. Amazing დ
WOW! That is incredible and hard to fathom! It must have been quite a sequence to see. Starfish are tough creatures, but so are gulls. Amazing დ
Fishday, dinnertime, super pictures, glad they all got their belly full!
No leftovers for these birdies! დ
Amazing photos, Cindy!
Thank you Leif. I am very pleased you enjoyed დ
These are very interesting sequences of ‘birds in action’. A lovely surprise for me was seeing the Yellow-billed Stork!
He is so gorgeous. I have photos of them surfing on the back of hippos. So sweet! დ
There is almost no fish that is too big for a voracious gull, only a flatfish can cause problems is my experience.
How amazing. I would love to see what you have seen დ
Lovely photos, Cindy. That went down fast! Did you use a telephoto lens for these? I once captured two cute gulls with large pink feet. They stopped to pose for me.
Yes, I use telephoto for most all bird photos. Thanks much and some birdies do love to have their photos taken! 😉
Absolutely stunning shots, Cindy Very impressive!
Honored Isabel. Thank you very much & be well დ
Excellet shots – I love the colours on the Crane.
Thank you Emma and isn’t he an exquisite creature! დ
Beautiful design in nature, to avoid those spikes they have to be engineered perfectly Cindy 😂 🤣
Great pictures dear lady, thank you for sharing 😀 ❤️ 🙏🏼 🦋
Thank you Mark. Nature’s engineering is a source of continuous wonder! დ
Great capture!
Thank you! დ
Excellent shots!!
Merci beaucoup დ
Wow. These are astounding photos! I recently spent time at a shared family cottage in upstate NY on Cayuga lake. One of my nephews was catching small invasive fish (round gobies) off the end of the dock and leaving them for sea gulls to eat. The sea gulls were very careful to eat each one head first so that the fish’s fins and spines would not get stuck in their digestive tracts. These birds must have extraordinary digestive strength to be able to break down a whole fish — which has not been chewed into smaller pieces before swallowing! Thank you for documenting and sharing these moments of life — and death — here on planet earth.
Thank you Will for such a thoughtful and interesting response. Yes, swallowing head first so the spines are flat makes perfect sense. The thing I couldn’t believe was that the gull not only swallowed this live and whole, but then flew immediately away. I wonder how on earth it could breathe or fly. დ
Eeeek I can’t look at things like this. Amazing photos but I’m far too squeamish about what happens in nature! x
I understand and am sorry if it bothered you. Your sensitivity is a gift დ
Great photo series, all I can think of is the fish swimming about in the birds stomach!
Poor thing. He would not have much room დ
Reblogged this on Musings on Life & Experience and commented:
Pictures from Cindy Knoke of birds who eat with big gulps
Hugs and gratitude Patricia & stay well my friend დ
Unbelievable, how the gull can swallow this size fish. Cindy, you probably photoshoped this picture, didn’t you? I am just kidding.
When I see this kind of action, I understand, human is not even close to the wild world. Lol…
The thing that most stunned me was that he few away seconds later! დ
You are incredible.
Visa versa 2UX2 დ
Thanks for the jaw dropping wow! 😮 great shots Cindy. Stay well 💛
Thank you Val and he didn’t even bite off more than he could swallow!! 😉
Fabulous feathered fun! Your images and creative captions are a delight ! Thanks Cindy
Thank you more Brad for being such a wonderful friend დ
You’re most welcome Cindy. It’s a mutual pleasure.
დ დ
Excellent shots
Thank you very much. დ
A gull stole the wiener from my daughter´s hotdog in San Diego once. A hungry gull is a force to be reckoned with.
They are infamous for stealing all sorts of things! One stole my son’s stuffed Easter duck once and brought it back later დ
Thank you very much, Cindy! Awesome photos ✨ ✨ ✨
Awwww, you make me happy I posted them! დ
Yes indeed WOW ☺️🤓 and so fun! Thanks for sharing Cindy ~ have a joyful and fun day ~ hedy
Happy you enjoyed Hedy & all the best to you my friend დ
You’ve got some great shots of feeding time, Cindy — thank you for showing us up close what many of us never get the opportunity to see. Hungry birdies!
I am so pleased you enjoyed Debbie and thank you for letting me know დ
Great catches for you and the birds! I love your Yellow Billed Stork! WOW!
Isn’t that a stunning bird. Thank you much my friend დ
YW!😄
It looks disgusting at first glance, but what are you going to do when you’re hungry and you don’t have cutlery handy?
Exactly. A good table setting might encourage better manners 😉
😊
Wow! No eating later for this guy.
No eating and flying for this bird! 😉
Sitting here thinking about the discomfort of swallowing food without chewing. Birds are clearly built for that life. 🤓
Yes. It seems so extreme doesn’t it. I was amazed she could take off and fly right after დ
Such beautiful photography.
Awww, you are very kind Dani დ
Great photos Cindy, what a fisher/bird!
Leslie xoxo
Thank you Leslie, and no expensive poles and lures for her! 😉
Now that’s how to do it!
Leslie 😉
He could win any big gulp contest feathers down! 😉
Fantastic fish feasting photos! I like the photo of the stork. Love its colouring.
Thank you. Isn’t that stork gorgeous. South Africa has so many beautiful birds დ
No fish too big for gulls … well, maybe. 🙂
I’m sure if they catch more than they consume, other gulls would be most ready to help them! 😉
Wow! Sushi! 😉
Wild creatures of all sorts love their sushi! 😉
Fantastic shots!
Thanks much Rebecca დ
Incredible photos! I bet the bird enjoyed his feast
He certainly didn’t linger long in satiation! დ
Great shots!
Merci beaucoup mon ami დ
Horsefeathers! That’s astonishing, Cindy. Terrific photos. Hugs on the wing!
Fish scales and feathers!! Happy you enjoyed Teagan & hugs back to you დ
Oh, my. You have really captured these birds at rare moments. I’m lucky just to see them near a shore or landing! Love these pictures.
Much appreciated & so happy you enjoyed them დ
That’s impressive! I was riding a bike on Sanibel Island once and looked up to see a bird (I think an osprey) with a bird in its mouth. I was so interested in it that I almost rode straight into a light pole! You were wise to simply stand still and take photos!
I completely relate. It is an amazing sight to see the technical skills of birds swooping down from the sky to snatch wiggling fish from the water. დ
Awesome blog. I like it, wow.
Thanks much & lovely to meet you Raj დ
Wow, did he swallow that whole?
✨☀️🙏🕉️♾️☮️🙏☀️✨
Yes he did! And to top it off, he flew immediately off. I was flabbergasted to say the least.. ✨☀️🙏🕉️♾️☮️🙏☀️✨
Wow, I can imagine – you’d think he’d need a bit of a rest after such a feat!
🙏✨
I was actually concerned he wouldn’t be able to breathe, before he took off, breathing 😉
He needs a longer leg to swallow the fish? I guess he doesn’t like sharing. 🙂
He does need a longer leg!! Laughing…. He definitely wants this fish for himself! 😉
Ahh…I see your gullfriend here is pretty gullible! LOL! Specktacular shots as always, my friend.
ღƪ(ˆ◡ˆ)ʃ♡ƪ(ˆ◡ˆ)ʃ♪
Laughing….. Your clever comments always make me smile ღƪ(ˆ◡ˆ)ʃ♡ƪ(ˆ◡ˆ)ʃ♪
Keep smiling, my friend! (´∇ﾉ｀*)ノ
I will, everytime I read a comment from you დ
(✿ ♥‿♥)
Superbe !
Honored. Thank you very much დ
Wow…what a catch !😮
It kinda puts those beer bellied men with big marlin in their place doesn’t it 😉
🤣
Great shots, Cindy!
Beautiful birds!
Grazie mille Resa. Hope all is well with you დ
So far, so good! დ
დდ
Bon Appetit!!
Merci, vous aussi! დ
Cindy, thank you for these remarkable photographs!
Thank you Charles for being such a thoughtful friend დ
Gulp! Beautiful photos, Cindy!
Thank you Jennie, and thank the gull, he made amazing pictures! დ
It takes two, one with the camera and one in front of the camera. 😍
Awwww, thoughtful of you Jennie დ
💕
He could have shared it with me..MOL😸Pawkisses for a Happy Caturday, Cindy🐾😽💞
He is clearly selfish that he didn’t, or, he just might have been really hungry! 😉
Did not think that gull could handle that fish. You would think that was his meal for the day or week.
He definitely would need to burb quite a bit…. 😉
Fantastic shots. Thank you. Can’t imagine the gastric juices the seagull has to digest that whole fish… with scales and bones.
Incredible to think of, and no antacid! 😉
Incredible! I can’t believe that bird swallowed that large fish. Your photography is superb.
Awww, thank you Beverly! დ
You are welcome. 🙂
დდ
❤
The colours on the stork! amazing I told George pink and green went together naturally.
Who are we to argue with Mother Nature!! She clearly knows best 🙂 დ
Thank you Cindy for the like. 🙂
დ დ
I could spend all day watching the gulls fish for dinner while vacationing at the beach. We had a couple of herons that often visited our yard looking for dinner in the lake behind our last house. Even though to us, they looked like they “bit off more than they could chew,” nothing ever seemed too big a catch for the heron. Great photos, Cindy!
The catching is impressive enough isn’t it, but the swallowing is beyond credulity! 😉
Very nice pics
Thank you!
Thank you very much დ
Thank you, Cindy. 🙂
დ
Terrific as usual Cindy!
So kind & so appreciated! Be well my friend დ
Quite a mouth full LOL
And stomach full! I couldn’t believe he could still fly. დ
Thank you, Cindy. 🙂
დდ
wow!!! amazing😵！！！
Grazie mille!