Heron with a taste for duckling 
snapped as it grabs a bite to eat

Photographer Chris Hyslop, 66, was stunned when the heron – a species associated with feasting on fish – waded swiftly up to the chick, picked it up in its bill and shook it before trying to drown it.

Finally, after a five-minute struggle, the heron, thought to be around two to three years old, swallowed its prize at the Adel Dam Nature Reserve in Leeds.

Chris, a semi-retired independent financial adviser, told: “I initially went down to try and get a picture of the heron in flight – they look quite extraordinary when they’re flying.

“The heron was fishing, wading around the water looking for something to eat.

“Then, all of a sudden, the heron spotted this mallard chick, which I would say was probably a couple of months old, and took maybe two steps very quickly towards it, before grabbing it in his mouth.

“He was shaking it around, which I think made the 
chick very disorientated, then the heron held it under the water.

“The whole thing lasted about five or six minutes. He probably didn’t want to swallow it while it was still moving, so did his best to stop it from moving.

“He didn’t rush about it, but I could see that digesting it was a struggle.”

“Not long after he tried to go for another chick.

“Then he spotted a group of young coot chicks, and tried to go for one of them.”