Here’s The Catch: Predator and Prey

The reality of the natural world is that some creatures eat other creatures to survive. Nature photographers spend a lot of time outside and sometimes capture dramatic moments in the struggle for survival. Their photos and stories may shock us but we can learn so much from these encounters – animals seem capable of much more planning, strategy and applied knowledge than what most of us humans ever give them credit for.

** Click on any photo to view large-size version **

Note: Each photographer’s website/blog is listed at the bottom of this blog-post.

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Mike Powell | Snake catches catfish | 20 July, 2017

  • Story plus 5 Photos showing the snake in various positions holding his catch, all the time in the water, until all of a sudden the snake somehow ingests the large fish and the last photo shows the snake with only the fish tail sticking out of its mouth!

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Ted Jennings | Great Blue Heron, Water Snake, All About Location | 01 March, 2018

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Ted Jennings | Dolphin With A Difficult Stranding | 02 Dec, 2017

  • Story plus 8 Photos in the form of a gallery sequence that shows the dolphin chasing the prey up onto a steep sand bank, throwing itself up the bank to snatch the prey, then rolling back into the water while still holding onto its catch. This is strand feeding

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Cindy Knoke  |  Salton Sea Shorebirds | 28 December, 2016  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

  • Ten Photos of various shorebirds, accompanied by brief descriptions. The bird in the above two photos is described as a Snowy Egret

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Mike Powell | Spider captures dragonfly – the story | 27 May, 2014

  • Story plus 8 Photos. Mike picks up a dead dragonfly but finds spider attached; he drops the dragonfly and spider falls off. Spider immediately returns to the dragonfly and proceeds to drag it to a crack between the boards, considers its options, and then does its best to drag its meal down the crack

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Pete Hillman | Catch of the Day | 23 April, 2017

Our friend is here again, the Goldenrod Spider (Misumena vatia), in his (or I should say ‘her’) favourite spot on my Spotted Laurel bush at the bottom of the garden. She has another great catch, a flesh fly which looks about equal to her size. She didn’t like me getting too close though, for as I poked my lens nearer she slowy crept behind the leaf, hauling her prey with her out of sight. She obviously likes to dine in private. – Pete Hillman

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Ellen Jennings | Anhinga Feeding | 06 February, 2017

  • Story plus 7 Photos. Anhinga stabs a large fish and then has to flip and turn the fish until it can swallow the fish head-first so the spines won’t lodge in its throat. It stays in the water until it’s accomplished this feat, then gets out onto a platform to dry

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Mike Powell | Hard to swallow | November 14, 2015

  • Story plus 5 Photos. Mike comes across a snake in the process of swallowing a live frog head-first

Photographers’ Websites/Blogs

Mike Powell : My journey through photography

Ted Jennings | TPJphoto.net

Cindy Knoke

Pete Hillman’s Nature Photography : Photographing the beauty and wonder of Staffordshire wildlife and more

Ellen Jennings | Passing By Photo

Selected and Arranged by Liz; Exploring Colour (2018)

 

31 thoughts on “Here’s The Catch: Predator and Prey”

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  3. Reblogged this on Passing By Photo and commented:
    Blogger Liz, author of New Zealand based Exploring Colour, has collected a group of “Predator and Prey” posts from photography blogs that she follows. Check out these fascinating images and stories of the world around us that I and fellow photographers have documented.

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  5. Wonderful collection on the Predator/Prey theme, Liz! Thank you so much for including me; I, too, feel honored to be included with this talented group. I’m also amazed at how much we collectively witness while we are out with nature and what a learning experience it is. You putting it all together was like watching a nature program on tv and very enjoyable!

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  6. It has taken Benjamin and I a bit of time to visit each of the posts and explore all of the excellent photos by these talented bloggers. I was a little concerned that my shadow would be upset by some of the food choices being consumed. When Benjamin and his Daddy go fishing, they do the catch and release. He doesn’t want to hurt the fish and likes to see them swim free. We discussed how these birds and the dolphin must eat what is available to them, and that it is part of the cycle of life. He did say : “The dragonfly should have eaten the spider first! and “Poor frog, that must hurt.” No sorrow was expressed for the fly. He is always excited to see his friend’s, Mr. Mike, posts! Thank-you for this wonderful learning experience, we loved it!!

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    1. Fantastic to get your feedback Ellen, I wondered if everything would be ok with young Benjamin! My personal feeling is that its good for children to understand early on that everything is connected. The dragonfly itself is a predator but it can also be a prey. I’ve just checked and seen that you and Benjamin have read Mike’s Dragonhunter post about a dragonfly that hunts and eats other dragonflies. That post surprised me!

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  7. I am really enjoying these series of blogs of yours with similar themes, Liz! You are showing some pretty amazing photos which I have not seen before! Fabulous work, and thank you for bringing me in amongst all these talented photograhers and bloggers! I feel so honoured to be rubbing shoulders with them! 🙂

    … just checking my spelling before clicking ‘Post Comment’ … 😉

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    1. Its always very special to get your feedback Pete. Do you realise you were probably only my 2nd or 3rd follower? I found your blog very quickly and you kindly followed me back and stuck with me through all my initial ramblings when I was a complete newbie! Thanks for the encouragement and also the access to your images that you’ve granted me over my first year of blogging 🙂 Its really, really appreciated! And yes, no ‘bogs’ this time .. hahaha!

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    1. Hi Ted. If you hit the “Reblog” button above it should automatically work for you. It’ll copy part of the post and provide a link for people to continue reading the rest of it here. You also have the opportunity to write your own introduction if you wish (like Mike has done with his reblog).

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    2. Just had another thought – a different approach might work better for you. You could create a new post and add your two images that I featured (and perhaps Ellen’s?) and let your followers know they’ve all been featured in “Here’s The Catch: Predator and Prey” (as a hyperlink) which they can then click on if they want to see the whole article.

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  11. Reblogged this on Mike Powell and commented:
    Do you think about your photographic subjects one at a time? That’s the way that I tend to operate. One of my blogging friends likes to organize photos of others around themes that transcend the boundaries of individual species. In this posting, Liz of Exploring Colour focused on the theme of Predators and Prey with photos that capture this reality of nature without becoming gruesome. Be sure to check out her other wonderful postings too.

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  12. What a great collection of images, Liz. I often think of my subjects one by one and I like the way that you conceived of a thematic approach that crosses over the boundaries and includes such a wide variety of species. I know that you originally thought of this as a one-time posting, but you might consider turning this into a mini-series of postings on this topic without getting too gruesome. Thanks for the greater exposure, Liz, that you have given me by including several of my photos with links in this posting.

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    1. This is excellent feedback Mike and I welcome all of these thoughts that you have set down. I’ve only just got up and made our cuppa so this really put a smile on my face! And I appreciate the thought you’ve put into it. Thanks for your suggestion about the mini-series. When I was putting it all together, I did wonder if it could be taken to a mini-series level but I wasn’t sure how people would respond to this type of post. I’ll definitely keep that in mind Mike. And I see it looks like you’ve reblogged too – that’s great!

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