【東京の大自然 「アオサギの捕食」観察】

　さて昨日も東京ビッグサイトで引き続き、AIイベントに参加しておりました。さすがに２日目となると当方の対応力も向上してくるようで、じっくり話し込んだ上で名刺交換させていただいた参観来場者の方だけでも14名と、継続的な交流が見通せそうな出会いも確認できたりしていました。
　ということで、本日の最終日にも頑張っていきたいと思います。
　さて、本日のブログは早朝散歩で都内の川の水辺でふと発見・遭遇した「アオサギの捕食」現場ウオッチであります。わたしの早朝散歩は札幌でもエゾリスやオシドリなどの人間界周辺動物との出会いが楽しい時間を作ってくれるのですが、さすが大東京。上述の人間同士の出会いもさりながら、なんと写真のような「大自然」との出会いも目前で展開してくれました。
　ふと発見したアオサギくんの凛々しいお姿ですが、かれは一瞬の隙もなく鋭い眼光で水面を注視していたのです。獲物の微細な兆候を見逃さないたたずまい・・・。


　北海道から来てボーッとしている人間とは違って、かれらは弱肉強食の厳しい生存競争のただ中をまっとうに生き抜いている。獲物の魚を発見した途端、間髪を入れずに勇躍飛翔し、その様子を追うわたしの目線移動速度をはるかに超えるスピードタイミングでみごとに獲物を獲得していた！
　まことに一瞬の出来事でしたが、かれの口元には明瞭に咥えられた魚が目視確認できます。

　獲得した獲物を出撃拠点とした地点に戻ってから、飲み込んで食べる様子です。きのうのこの時にはすぐには飲み込むことが出来ず、いったん地上に魚を吐き出してから、再度くちばしで捕食しその後、飲み込んでおりました。想像ではすぐに呑み込むには魚の元気が良すぎて、ノドを静かに下りて行かないと判断して、すこし元気を衰えさせてから、獲物から食べものに変換させて食したように見えた。
　急いては事をし損じる、みたいな戒めがありますが、大自然界でのこうしたイキモノの輪廻から人間にも知能として獲得されてきたモノだろうかと、妄想に浸らせていただいた。
　一般的にはコンクリートジャングルとされる大都会ながら、自然界のイキモノがたくましく生き抜く姿には、神々しさが漂っていました。


English version⬇

Tokyo's great outdoors: ‘Predation of the great blue heron’ Observation.
Human survival activities are also active in the concrete jungle, but the great natural world of Tokyo is also developing a cycle of reincarnation according to a law that has been in place since prehistoric times. ...

　Yesterday, we continued to participate in AI events at Tokyo Big Sight. As you would expect from the second day of an AI event, our response skills seem to improve, and we were able to meet 14 visitors alone, with whom we had a long talk and exchanged business cards, confirming the possibility of ongoing exchanges.
　So we will continue to do our best on today's final day.
　Today's blog is about an early morning stroll along a river in Tokyo, where I suddenly discovered and encountered a heron feeding on the water. My early morning walks in Sapporo are also enjoyable, with encounters with animals around the human world, such as Ezo squirrels and mandarin ducks, but as expected in the big city of Tokyo. As well as the above-mentioned encounters between humans, I also had encounters with ‘Mother Nature’ right in front of me, as you can see in the photo.
　The dignified figure of a great blue heron I suddenly spotted, who was watching the surface of the water with his keen eyes without a moment's pause. He was watching the surface of the water with his keen eyes, not missing the slightest sign of his prey...

　Unlike humans from Hokkaido, they survive in the midst of a fierce competition for survival between the weak and the strong. As soon as they spot their prey, they leap into the air without a moment's pause, and with timing that far exceeds the speed at which my eyes can follow their movements, they have successfully captured their prey!
　It was a very brief moment, but the fish was clearly visible in his mouth.

　The fish swallows and eats its prey after it returns to the location where it was based for the sortie. Yesterday, the fish could not swallow immediately and had to spit it out on the ground, then feed on it again with its beak before swallowing it. In my imagination, it appeared that the fish was too energetic to swallow immediately, so it was not able to go down the throat quietly and let its energy wane a little before converting it from prey to food and eating it.
　There is an admonition that haste makes waste, and I wondered if this kind of intelligence had been acquired by humans through the reincarnation of these creatures in the natural world.
　Although the metropolis is generally regarded as a concrete jungle, there was a sense of the divine in the way Ikimono in the natural world were able to survive so vigorously.