David Dickinson created this dramatic video photo essay of a great blue heron spearing and swallowing a huge carp in the floodplain of the Rio Grande in New Mexico’s Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge on October 29, 2013.

He said the whole thing – from soup to nuts, if you will – took 11 minutes.

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Bottom line: Video photo essay shows great blue heron spearing and swallowing a huge carp.

Eleanor Imster

Eleanor Imster has helped write and edit EarthSky since 1995. She was an integral part of the award-winning EarthSky radio series almost since it began until it ended in 2013. Today, as an EarthSky.org Editor, she helps present the science and nature stories and photos you enjoy. She and her husband live in Tennessee, where they enjoy guitar playing and singing. They have 2 grown sons.