Yellow-crowned Night Heron and the Ghost Crab

During the summer time we see an abundance of plump Ghost Crab - they set up shop in their underground tunnels all over the beach and hide while waiting for opportunities to consume other little creatures - such as sea turtle hatchling. As nature goes - the Ghost Crab also has its own predator, one of which is the Yellow-crowned Night Heron and as a bird and sea turtle lover, I wholeheartedly cheer them on.

While walking the beach this morning I spotted one of them and watched as the hunt unfolded...come and see....

At first he seemed to be taking a leisurely walk along the vegetation....but I wasn't fooled by that,

I noticed how intensely he was eying something....first moving ever so slowly when, all of a sudden, he took off sprinting....

it didn't take long for him to grab the crab and...

take the crab down by the water's edge....

from there a series of twist and turn, flip and toss...

while protecting himself from harm - look how the membrane closed over his eyes....

aligning the crab just right....

and again.....

and down the hatch it goes.....gulp!

Standing up straight might even be helpful to ease the process down the hatch.

A little bit of water helps too.

Feeling pretty good now.....next!