This poor lizard was stuck within a bird’s beak and got into a horrible tangle, only to wiggle free and leave its tail behind.
Salah Baazizi, a 46-year-old amateur wildlife photographer from Aʟɢᴇʀɪᴀ who now resides in Orange County, took time away from his work as a software developer to capture the stunning dinner.
Salah, who was observing from a distance of about 10 meters, filmed the horrifying sᴄᴇɴᴇ of an egret munching on a lizard at the Bolsa Chica Wildlife Conservancy in Southern California. The lizard tried to escape, wriggled and got stuck inside the egret’s mouth.
Seven years after he first took wildlife photography seriously, he has developed a passion for capturing birds in motion.
Egrets typically fish in wetlands, but on this particular sunny, hot winter day, Salah spotted an egret searching in some strange places before stalking and pursuing lizards. He supposed the heat had a part in the lizards’ decision to seek out open, sunny spaces to control their body temperatures.
Egrets are sᴋɪʟʟed stalkers who eat primarily fish but also just about any living thing they can get their beaks on. This includes birds, rodents, fish, insects, worms, dragonflies, and snakes.