Great Blue Heron Catching and Eating a Cliff Swallow

Over the years I have photographed the Great Blue Herons doing some amazing things. Stuff that has left me speechless.

They are fierce in battle and will eat just about anything to survive.

I have watched two herons fighting and photographed one heron stabbing another through the neck with his long pointy beak.

I have photos of a heron standing on the edge of the ice on the Bear River where he reached down and yanked a small Pied Billed Grebe out of the water by his head. Fortunately, the little Grebe was a fighter and bit the heron on the leg and quickly ran back to the safety of the water.

I have photographed and videoed a heron standing over a small hole in the dirt and yank snake, after snake, after snake out of that hole when they would stick their heads out. He must of ate over a dozen of them.

Early this morning I watched a heron stealthily walk across a bridge and catch a Cliff Swallow right out of the air as she was flying back to feed her hungry babies in their nest. The heron caught several of them while I was there. Unfortunately I wasn’t in a good spot for photographs but I did get a couple decent ones.

It’s a dog eat dog, errr…. bird eat bird world out there so be safe!
Click on the photo for a larger version

Utah’s West Desert Wild Mustangs

My son in-law invited me to go with him to photograph the wild mustangs out west. I have been wanting to do this for a long time and it was an incredible experience! I had a fantastic time!
These animals are incredibly beautiful, powerful, cute, vicious, tender, loving, brutal, gentle, smart, etc….
They survive in some very harsh conditions but they thrive in this area.
Some of the fighting we witness was so intense. A mustang would kick another and you could feel the power of the hit in your chest.
They are covered in scares from head to tail. Look at the dark colored ones, that’s not mud on their hair, it’s old wounds that have healed.
The young ones were a hoot to watch. The smallest one couldn’t be more than a week old and he was so spunky. Running around, jumping and playing with everyone … so cute!
I uploaded a bunch of pictures in hopes that you can experience how I felt watching these beautiful animals.
I posted 3 pics below but uploaded about 50 of them to the Wildlife Gallery.

Welcome to Shane Whitlock Photography

This site was created on 4/25/2020 to showcase some of my images.
I currently have galleries created for bird, wildlife, landscape and astro images.
Thank you for visiting