{"id":105702,"date":"2022-01-02T05:31:56","date_gmt":"2022-01-02T12:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=105702"},"modified":"2022-01-02T06:07:29","modified_gmt":"2022-01-02T13:07:29","slug":"western-grebe-with-a-catfish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/01\/02\/western-grebe-with-a-catfish\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Grebe With A Catfish"},"content":{"rendered":"

A channel cat I believe.<\/p>\n

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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

This is an older photo of a male Western Grebe trying his best to swallow a young channel catfish at Bear River MBR. I’ve posted other photos of this bird in the past but this one is new to my blog. I like this particular photo because the long catfish is aligned so well with the bird’s open bill down its entire length which allows us to see some very good detail on the fish..<\/p>\n

I watched for eight minutes as he tried to swallow the fish. I suspect the problem he was having was more related to the sharp defensive spines on the dorsal and pectoral fins of the catfish than it was to its size. When necessary those nasty spines can be ‘locked’ into an erect position, making the swallowing of the fish a risky proposition for most any predator.<\/p>\n

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A tight crop allows a better look at one of the four pairs of sensory barbels (whisker-like appendages) near the mouth of the channel catfish.<\/p>\n

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In an even tighter crop we can (barely) see the tips of the erect, venomous and extremely sharp spines on the dorsal fin. Jabs from those spines are incredibly painful and can cause some truly nasty wounds to fisherpersons when they become infected and fester.<\/p>\n

Even after eight minutes I don’t know if he was eventually successful in his many attempts to swallow the fish. It could have gone either way.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A channel cat I believe<\/p>\n

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