Earlier in the fall, I made a quick visit to McGinnis Slough, a large shallow lake surrounded by woods and marsh. It is the closest spot to me that provides first rate habitat for ducks, herons, shorebirds, and other waterbirds. On that particular day, I did not see anything out of the ordinary in the way of birds. But I a mink ran across the trail in front of me. Mink are by far the most common Mustelid (now that the skunks are in their own family) and I usually see a couple a year.
A few weeks after that, I was looking on the Illinois Birders Forum (a great site maintained by Greg Neice) and saw some remarkable photos taken by Brian Tang, who has given me permission to post them here. He was birding at the 126th St. marsh in the Calumet area (southeast side of Chicago) with the hope of finding shorebirds. As he tells it: “This egret was standing in the middle of the water. I glanced back at the egret and noticed he caught something. He waved it around a few times and then gulped it down in an instant. My first instinct was mink but it seemed so strange.”
It is rare enough to see this kind of animal interaction, but to capture it on film is really special. Who needs to go to the Serengeti to watch cheetahs take gazelles? The same thing is happening in your neighborhood.
Thanks for picking up on this photo!
Great photo as usual by Brian. I have seen mink twice at McGinnis Slough.