If you need a reminder of the food chain, continuously revolving in the nature surrounding us, the local nature photographer Benny Scerri has shared some stunning evidence – a photo showing a bird he identified as a Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus) in the very moment it captured with its sharp beak a frog that most likely became its meal soon after!

Aside from the skill and patience it undoubtedly took to capture this very moment, what makes this photo even more impressive is the fact that this small, colourful heron is very secretive and hard to see. It is at its most active around dusk, moving to good feeding sites at the water's edge where it catches small fish, frogs and large insects, using its long neck and pointed bill designed just for this reason.

In the comments section, nature expert Arnold Sciberras identified the frog as a Discoglossus pictus, known by its common name Painted Frog, likely named so because of the distinctive blotches covering its back and legs. Endemic to the islands of Malta and Sicily, the Painted Frog is the only naturally occurring amphibian in the Maltese Islands. Unfortunately, it seems this particular one didn’t seem to have lasted very long!

Have you ever seen such a sight in the Maltese countryside?