Alligator Fishing…part 1

We were extremely surprised to find an alligator had walked himself from the marsh pond to the salt marsh to do a little, uh, actually, a lot of fishing. The surprising part was that it’s unusual to see an alligator both in the salt marsh, and also feeding so enthusiastically. We were surprised as well, to see fish (presumably mullet) as large as a foot long with some even larger, in a relatively small shallow area of the salt mash. I don’t know if, or how, the alligator would know those fish were in there but he sure seemed thrilled about it! Just a short note for those wondering, the alligators do not generally live in salt water but will be happy to cruise over there for a visit if it means tasty fish or their favorite blue crab await. In addition, there was so much going on, expect to see a part 2 and likely 3 of the event coming soon.

Hunting

This past weekend we saw an osprey on a serious hunting expedition. You could tell he was on the hunt because he was constantly moving his eyes both side to side and downward. That is bad news for any fish that happens to be swimming in the salt marsh below. We never saw the osprey dive down and he quickly left the area heading east just a short distance toward the ocean, which should provide a tasty meal. Also notice, in the second photo, the small patch of black feathers on the top of his head. It’s not often you see the top on an osprey head while it’s flying!

Prospecting

Last week, while we were watching the pelicans battle the cormorants, the snowy egrets battle each other, and the alligators mostly sleeping in the sun, a bald eagle did an unexpected fly around. He didn't appear to be seriously hunting, more of an aerial check of the salt marsh to make sure everything was in order and while at it, keeping his eyes open for an opportunity to potentially strike gold!

Today’s Test Subjects

Today I decided to try out an old Canon 30D camera (released in 2006) to see how it would handle some of the marsh creatures that might show up. Despite me wanting something exciting, it turned out to be mostly the usual suspects. The camera ended up performing fairly well I thought, especially for a 20 year old! The bright lighting conditions likely helped with the focusing on the action shots, although right now, the alligators are not exactly bursting with activity. I also included one pic showing a great egret (entering into breeding conditions) along with his small cousins the snowy egrets. In any case, the day was relatively successful!

This Is Art

No, not the photos, the Egret. It’s Art Wade a local ambassador for the Great Egret contingency. He showed up a few days ago to check in and make sure everything is in order over at the salt marsh. Art seemed mostly pleased in spite of one Great Blue Heron that was kind of annoying. But the heron was a juvenile, so you know, kids…

Best Not To Wake Him…

Yesterday afternoon I had to admit I was a bit impressed when I saw the size of this guy who was out sunbathing with two of his friends. Just look at that head, it’s huge! This had to be a 12 footer, I couldn’t fit any more in my lens than you see here. There were two other alligators behind and to the side of the sleeping giant, and one of them was quite large but not this large. The third smaller one was half in the water staying out of the way but no one seemed interested in any power moves, this day was all about the sun and warming themselves up nicely.

Cormorant-1 Pelican-0

We were over at the salt marsh this afternoon and there wasn’t a lot of activity, but there was some. At one point a cormorant caught himself a good size fish, which is somewhat unusual, they tend to come up with shrimp, eels, and small fish.
The cormorant’s huge prize was instantly noticed by a brown pelican fishing nearby who dove over in a frenzied attempt to purloin the fish. The pelican was denied however, as the cormorant wasted no time in swallowing the fish which resulted in one sadly disappointed pelican.

Pelicans At Work

Yesterday we went over by the salt marsh during low tide and found a group of brown pelicans fishing all together in one small area. There were 6-7 juveniles and one adult with the youngsters doing most of the work it seemed. The adult wasn’t pleased and was constantly trying to boss the kid around which included chasing and biting tail feathers. As you can see, it didn’t stop anyone from scooping up the seafood delicacies and having a good time as well. I’m sure this continued on for a good while after we left, so another long day at the office!

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