what a fight

[gaggle]

sitting on the back of me boat when a mad flurry of action began two yards away,a large bird that was blackish in colour and had a large beak appeared and seemed to be getting the life throttled out of it by an eel that was probably 18 inchs in length.

i watched as they battled it out and several times they both went under the water only to reappear with the bird and then the eel seemingly with the upper hand so to speak.

after several minutes the bird managed to get the eel in its beak and began the final positioning of the eel ready to finish it off,the eel in a frenzy wrapped around the birds neck again and again without doing it much harm and in a microsecond it seemed the bird tossed the eel upwards while holding its head tight in its beak and the eel slid quickly down the birds throat.

the bird calmy gulped several times to pass it down and proceeded to dive again below the water,i could not believe it could still be hungry as the eel it had just feasted on was a fair size.

got some pics if any good i will try and post.

[Bones]

WOW!!! Yes - DO post pics... it sounds amazing

[gaggle]

 

probably made them to small,the 1st pic shows not the birds neck but the eel tossed up,dont know type of bird but onlookers said not a heron and it did not look like any heron i have seen ,comerant?

 

Edited September 11, 2006 by gaggle

[JohnOnTheWey]

sitting on the back of me boat when a mad flurry of action began two yards away,a large bird that was blackish in colour and had a large beak appeared and seemed to be getting the life throttled out of it by an eel that was probably 18 inchs in length.

i watched as they battled it out and several times they both went under the water only to reappear with the bird and then the eel seemingly with the upper hand so to speak.

after several minutes the bird managed to get the eel in its beak and began the final positioning of the eel ready to finish it off,the eel in a frenzy wrapped around the birds neck again and again without doing it much harm and in a microsecond it seemed the bird tossed the eel upwards while holding its head tight in its beak and the eel slid quickly down the birds throat.

the bird calmy gulped several times to pass it down and proceeded to dive again below the water,i could not believe it could still be hungry as the eel it had just feasted on was a fair size.

got some pics if any good i will try and post.

 

I saw a similar thing on the Thames a few weeks ago. The bird was a cormorant - we've got millions of 'em down here. What amazed me most was that, after all the gulping and gagging, the bird just calmly turned into the wind and took off (presumably to find a nice quiet reservoir where he could sleep off his breakfast).

 

John

[gaggle]

 

the winner

[Bones]

looks like a cormoront to me... could be a shag of course as they look quite similar... but I am sure its the former as I can't see a wee mohican.

 

How amazing!

Edited September 11, 2006 by Bones

[gaggle]

thing was we went back tonight to go carp fishing and when the fight started under water we all thought one hell of a carp had just done a dance and all run to the rods ready for action.i think the fight was as good as a bite.

i have never seen a crowd gather so quick since the school yard.

[Breals]

Lots of cormorants around on inland waterways these days. Fantastic action pics!

[Tinally]

And why, we must ask ourselves, are these sea birds haunting freshwater these days and creating havoc amongst fish stocks? It's because our commercial fishermen have virtually wiped out the natural food of these birds!! Sadly I doubt if lessons will be learned in time.

 

Dick

 

(Sorry for starting a sentence with a conjunction - somebody slap my wrist!! )

[Bones]

And why, we must ask ourselves, are these sea birds haunting freshwater these days and creating havoc amongst fish stocks? It's because our commercial fishermen have virtually wiped out the natural food of these birds!! Sadly I doubt if lessons will be learned in time.

 

Dick

 

(Sorry for starting a sentence with a conjunction - somebody slap my wrist!! )

 

 

are you sure? I thought it was to do with some king who rather liked them and set up his own breeding stock.

 

Besides, there are many other factors that may contribute to their appearance without royal assistance other than commercial fishermen.

Edited September 12, 2006 by Bones

[steaming floater]

Definately a cormorant, we have one in the harbour at west bay (Dorset) that has the same battles with eels. I swear a large one drowned a bird last year, people were watching from different angles and the bird just dissapeared!

 

I fish for eels also, does anybody have any advise for canal eel fishing?

[ChrisPy]

don't think cormorants are necessarily 'sea birds'.

 

there's another misnomer - seagulls. they can be found most places, but find it easier to feed at sea. we get them in our garden, a mile from the tidal Avon and 5 miles from the open Severn estuary.

[gaggle]

the liver birds?

[John Orentas]

the liver birds?

 

 

Liver birds, they flap their wings in particular circumstances.

 

They say when a virgin passes by the Liver building, however only a handful people have ever witnessed the phenomenon.

[Yoda]

 

 

I fish for eels also, does anybody have any advise for canal eel fishing?

 

Yes, use dynamite.

[ChrisPy]

Yes, use dynamite.

[gaggle]

they always seem to get caught in the dark which means the kids call me to take them of the hook,horrible slimy job that i cant stand.

keep some old cloths to hold them while you have to handle them but the best thing is to avoid them at all costs.

some nutters apparently eat them aaarrrrggghhhhhhhhhh

[steaming floater]

they always seem to get caught in the dark which means the kids call me to take them of the hook,horrible slimy job that i cant stand.

keep some old cloths to hold them while you have to handle them but the best thing is to avoid them at all costs.

some nutters apparently eat them aaarrrrggghhhhhhhhhh

 

 

Eels are not eaten by some people, they are THE most eaten single species of fish in the world!!

 

Smoked Eel is more expensive than smoked salmon and in my opinion tastes better.

 

I guess you never ate an eel from your remarks? How then can you have an opinion on it?

 

Personally I find them the most interesting creatures from the point of view of thier life-cycle, and culinary qualities. Catching them and handling them takes great skill, something which a lot of people would shy away from in our ever increasing "throw away" and "fast food" do it now society.

 

Please feel free to label me as an Eel anorak

 

Anguilla anguilla

[Moley]

I fish for eels also, does anybody have any advise for canal eel fishing?

I guess you never ate an eel from your remarks? How then can you have an opinion on it?

Personally I find them the most interesting creatures ..... Catching them and handling them takes great skill

Well I think I've only ever tried eel smoked, and that was good.

But are you saying you would eat canal eel?

[steaming floater]

Well I think I've only ever tried eel smoked, and that was good.

But are you saying you would eat canal eel?

 

 

why not? I expect the barge people used to and they were "bucket and chucket" days

 

I will reserve judgement untill I have actually eaten a canal eel however, maybe somebody out there has an opinion (I bet they do- you guys!! )

 

Anguilla a la cut

[gaggle]

the only eel i have ever tasted was the jellied eel in london and to be honest i thought it was vile.

that is what i formed my opinion on but at the same time i can form an opinion without eating it.i did not state they tasted bad or good.

the kids tell me that if i give the eel firm strokes down its length it will stay still and calm while i de-hook it.

lots of anglers kill them as a matter of course.

[steaming floater]

the kids tell me that if i give the eel firm strokes down its length it will stay still and calm while i de-hook it.

lots of anglers kill them as a matter of course.

 

Didnt mean to be rude, sorry

 

About unhooking them, if you turn them upside down they go quiet too, because the air sack leaks and they will eventuaslly pass out, so be careful, if you are going to return it. Best to leave them on a wet cloth for a while, try not to touch the skin too much, defo not newspaper. The Eeel breathes through its skin and the loss of the slime will render it to infection and sure death.

 

Eeels often die from heart attack when rough handled, bear in mind that a 3lb eel is likely to be 25-30 yrs old.

 

An old trick was to cut a small channel out in the turf, 3 inch x 3 ft and lay them in it.

 

To despatch quickly put a blade across the back of the neck, you might find it will wriggle for a while after.

 

As for jellied eels, they are a strange foodstuff indeed, up there with marmite.

 

Fried sections (cutlets) in butter is simple and tasty, the only thing you must do is ensur that whatever method is used it is higher than 60 degrees to kill off the poison serum in the blood.

 

Theres another subject EEL BLOOD!!

[Allie]

Cormorants will live wherever there is water and food. We have them here on our lake in the middle of the Mojave Desert in California, 120 miles from the ocean. British Waterways talks about their habitat on the website:

 

http://www.waterscape.com/features/wildlife/cormorant.html

 

Note that the cormorant's favorite food is fish and eels. As far as I'm concerned, they can have the eels to themselves. I have tasted eel at a sushi bar and honestly, it was vile. They put a thick, sweet brown sauce on it to disguise the taste. It didn't work. It would take a lot of sake to make me try that again!

 

Allie

[Howard]

Problem is that each cormorant eats 2lb of fish a day, the explosion of the population of cormorants on the Thames in the last ten years has been incredible ......

 

Hence our freshwater stocks are slowly declining on the Thames at present, when i walk up on our weir in the morning, there are at least 30/40 that roost on the guard piles overnight.... so that means 80lb of fish a day gone from our reach (they stay local) .... which is a lot ....

 

They are very timid and will fly away if you get nearer than 40 or 50 feet of them ..... (at least the Teddington ones do)

Edited September 15, 2006 by Howard