Recursive Feeding

I once caught a dragonfly catching and swallowing a mosquito in a single act, immediately followed by a bird catching the dragonfly and taking it away for lunch. Too bad there were no smartphones or other easy ways to record video at that time…

Today I found a herd feeding. And on top of some animals, birds were feeding on their bugs. Somehow I’m just fascinated by these mundane recursions (and cycles, like that of growing plants and composting) that happen in Nature. I know they take place millions of times per day on Earth, yet I love witnessing them.

Here’s a bird feeding on a feeding animal:

To which another bird quickly joined for super:

The birds eventually left and everything was quiet again. A quiet meal for the herd.

Mom and child can continue their meal in peace.

Note -that might sound obvious to some. Technically, the animals are not annoyed or harmed by the birds; in fact, they benefit from this association because many of the birds’ meals are bugs, some of which could be or transmit parasites.

I am a nature, science, technology, programming, and DIY enthusiast. Biotechnologist and chemist, in the wet lab and in computers. I write about everything that lies within my broad sphere of interests. Check out my lists for more stories. Become a Medium member to access all stories by me and other writers, and subscribe to get my new stories by email (original affiliate links of the platform).