Stop Picking On Me!

Yesterday evening just prior to sunset, we were watching a small group of Roseate Spoonbills feeding in the marsh pond.

At one point they came upon a baby alligator. The little guy could not have been much more then three feet long. Well the spoonbills became fascinated with the gator, especially it’s tail. The spoonbills appeared to be reacting to the alligator almost the way a cat would to a dangled piece of string. Once the spoonies found the little alligator with the curious tail they would not leave it alone, even grabbing the gator’s tail and picking it up a few times. The alligator attempted to go about it’s business which was getting itself fed, but was also clearly annoyed at the unwanted attention. Finally the spoonbills lost interest and the alligator glided off to a less crowded area to continue feeding.

53 thoughts on “Stop Picking On Me!”

Jennifer on July 4, 2012 at 2:14 pm said:

No way, if I didn’t see that with my own eyes I wouldn’t believe it. Those are some seriously special pics! Happy 4th my friend!

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- Phil Lanoue on July 4, 2012 at 3:57 pm said:
  
  So glad you liked those pics! Happy FoJ to you as well!
  
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Ricky Simpson on July 4, 2012 at 3:03 pm said:

Awesome! Great captures!I cant wait to get some shots of the more mature spoonies. Happy 4th to you and Alyce!

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- Phil Lanoue on July 4, 2012 at 3:58 pm said:
  
  Thanks very much Ricky! Glad you checked out the pics and the site!
  Hope you enjoy your Fourth!
  
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Maleea B on July 4, 2012 at 6:22 pm said:

Oh my gosh! Silly spoonies….I hope they don’t try it with bigger one! lol amazing photos….of both young alligator and spoonies…..great job!

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- Phil Lanoue on July 5, 2012 at 11:33 am said:
  
  Those spoonies can be entertaining. When you get them together with a young alligator the interaction can be quite comical! Thanks Maleea!
  
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gems3125 on July 4, 2012 at 11:55 pm said:

Love your pictures of the spoonbills and the gator, really great job. 🙂

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- Phil Lanoue on July 5, 2012 at 11:33 am said:
  
  Well I certainly appreciate your visit and kind comments!
  
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TJ on July 5, 2012 at 6:46 am said:

That is so cool Phil, great shots, wish I could have been there to see that

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- Phil Lanoue on July 5, 2012 at 11:34 am said:
  
  Thanks TJ! I’m really glad you liked those shots! See ya,
  Phil
  
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Kathy on July 5, 2012 at 10:53 pm said:

Such a fantastic series Phil. I hope you gave them a good tip…hee hee, like they shouldn’t put alligator on their diet. Not healthy. Thanks for sharing your work. They are so awesome. 🙂 Say hello to Alyce. 🙂

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- Phil Lanoue on July 6, 2012 at 3:00 pm said:
  
  Hey Kathy, so glad you liked those! They really should leave the poor little alligators alone but you know how the goofy spoonies are…always looking to get into trouble! Thanks for checking out the pics!
  
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Alka Shah on July 6, 2012 at 6:53 am said:

Amazing Interesting Shots!!
Thanks for sharing this wonderful series of shots!

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- Phil Lanoue on July 6, 2012 at 3:02 pm said:
  
  I’m so happy you took the time to view my site and new images Alka!
  Nice to see you here! Say Hi to Ammi for Alyce and myself!
  
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jrista on September 2, 2012 at 1:12 pm said:

Wild life and bird behavior never ceases to amaze me! Sometimes it can be so curious. Excellent photos of the incident, too! I’m glad you recorded it so everyone could see that nature isn’t as simple and ordered as we often try to make it…things are more complex and interesting!

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- Phil Lanoue on September 2, 2012 at 4:45 pm said:
  
  Thanks very much for checking out these photos and for your kind words. I’m so glad you enjoyed seeing these and I also greatly appreciate you posting this on your blog! 🙂
  
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  - jrista on September 3, 2012 at 4:37 pm said:
    
    Welcome. 🙂 I love curious animal behavior…we sometimes think we know everything there is about…well, everything. I like seeing new things that aren’t common knowledge, then sharing them with the world.
    
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Pingback: Stop Picking On Me! « Nature Photography
Phil Lanoue on September 5, 2012 at 4:11 pm said:

I agree, I’m always ready to both observe, and learn something new. 🙂

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Jane Lurie on September 16, 2012 at 3:51 pm said:

These are fascinating and beautiful shots! Happy to find you through John’s post.

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- Phil Lanoue on September 16, 2012 at 6:41 pm said:
  
  Thanks very much for visiting and your kind comments Jane!
  
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Bella Remy Photography on September 21, 2012 at 7:37 pm said:

This is absolutely amazing ! What a moment you were able to witness and capture. I’m so happy that you stopped by my blog and liked my post with mmy adventure with Feygirl. It brought me to your fabulous blog and photos of nature. Can’t wait to explore more. Bella

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- Phil Lanoue on September 21, 2012 at 9:59 pm said:
  
  Hi Bella, thanks very much for your kind comments. I’m glad you enjoyed seeing these photos.
  The spoonbills can often be goofy and entertaining. 🙂
  Happy to see you here!
  
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adinparadise on October 10, 2012 at 11:28 am said:

Amazing photos, Phil. You’ve witnessed some amazing scenes in that swamp. 🙂

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- Phil Lanoue on October 10, 2012 at 1:47 pm said:
  
  Thank you very much for taking a look at the always goofy spoonies and their wacky adventures! 😀
  
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  - adinparadise on October 11, 2012 at 2:43 am said:
    
    My pleasure, Phil.
    
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kbfotografix on October 11, 2012 at 2:43 pm said:

incredible photos! looks like there was some confusion as to the whole predator/prey thing

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- Phil Lanoue on October 12, 2012 at 5:58 pm said:
  
  I think you are right, that alligator was certainly putting up with a lot of nonsense from those goofy spoonbills and likely did not have to even if it was a youngster.
  Thanks for your kind comments!
  
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Pat Taylor on October 20, 2012 at 10:41 pm said:

I love all of your photos…….I first saw them on WPDE news, the weather segment with Ed Piotrowski. I have been a fan ever since. Do you teach photography classes?

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- Phil Lanoue on October 22, 2012 at 4:17 pm said:
  
  Hi Pat!
  Thanks very much for your visit and I am very happy that you enjoy my photos!
  Sorry, no photo classes, but stop by and say hello whenever you see me around the marsh. 🙂
  
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Pat Taylor on October 24, 2012 at 1:19 pm said:

Thank you, I will do that.

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Kitt Crescendo on January 1, 2013 at 8:45 am said:

What is it about me that finds your feathered rabble rousers so entertaining?

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- Phil Lanoue on January 1, 2013 at 9:21 pm said:
  
  I’m glad you enjoy the little trouble makers! 😀
  
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Judy on January 30, 2013 at 9:29 pm said:

Never saw this page before!! I have never seen spoonbills doing this either! Very cool, unusual and amusing shots!!Wow really!!

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- Phil Lanoue on February 13, 2013 at 12:04 pm said:
  
  Thanks Judy, I’m really happy you enjoyed these pics!
  They were also featured on the Daily Mail site back among other places back in July.
  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2170900/Curious-spoonbill-birds-peck-ish–alligator-fortunately-unwanted-attention-didnt-make-deadly-reptile-snap.html
  
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Maggie Roberts on February 2, 2013 at 5:11 am said:

Very amusing! Thanks for posting!

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- Phil Lanoue on February 13, 2013 at 12:03 pm said:
  
  Thank you Maggie, I’m happy you liked this!
  These photos were featured on the Daily Mail site back in July among other places.
  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2170900/Curious-spoonbill-birds-peck-ish–alligator-fortunately-unwanted-attention-didnt-make-deadly-reptile-snap.html
  
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Amy on February 12, 2013 at 8:26 pm said:

😀 …

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- Phil Lanoue on February 13, 2013 at 12:05 pm said:
  
  Thanks for checking these out Amy!
  They were also featured on the Daily Mail site back in July, among other places.
  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2170900/Curious-spoonbill-birds-peck-ish–alligator-fortunately-unwanted-attention-didnt-make-deadly-reptile-snap.html
  
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Garden Walk Garden Talk on March 31, 2013 at 8:30 pm said:

Funny. The poor little gator.

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nlarkin1 on April 16, 2013 at 6:18 pm said:

great photography and a story as well!

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- Phil Lanoue on April 17, 2013 at 1:50 pm said:
  
  Thanks very much I’m glad you enjoyed these!
  
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Bayou Woman on April 16, 2013 at 7:36 pm said:

Absolutely astonishing, Phil. Makes me want to quit everything else and just launch my boat and go sit out with my camera and observe. What area of the marsh/coast do you take most of your pics in? As you may have seen from my blog, I am in lower Terrebonne Parish.

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- Phil Lanoue on April 17, 2013 at 1:52 pm said:
  
  Thank you so much I’m very happy you liked this series! These were picked up by a news agency in the UK and ended up going world wide which was fun.
  I’m in the coastal South Carolina area south of Myrtle Beach.
  
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ilargia64 on July 28, 2013 at 8:20 am said:

Oh!!!! Come on!!!!! Now I feel a bit sorry about him!!!!

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- Phil Lanoue on July 28, 2013 at 11:49 am said:
  
  Well I felt sorry for the poor little alligator who was minding his own business and only wanted to float along and behave nicely. 😀
  
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  - ilargia64 on July 28, 2013 at 2:57 pm said:
    
    I agree!!!!
    
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Mary Strong-Spaid on September 6, 2013 at 4:10 pm said:

Very interesting. I would have expected the little gator to turn around and try to bite them.
I wonder why it didn’t. Annoying birds!

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- Phil Lanoue on September 6, 2013 at 4:15 pm said:
  
  I would have thought the little guy would at least snap at the spoonbills to try to make them stop annoying him, but maybe he felt outnumbered. 🙂
  Thank you for looking and commenting!
  
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Lori Ballard on October 15, 2013 at 8:14 pm said:

WOW!!….Awesome series of shots, Phil!!! Your an amazing photographer!!! I shall return periodically to check out your shots…. Remembering your great shots from Nat Geo gallery 🙂

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Deborah Bifulco on May 1, 2015 at 9:57 am said:

What an amazing sequence! I wonder if they were trying to get the gator to leave? Kind of surprising that the little guy didn’t try to take one of them out.

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- Phil Lanoue on May 1, 2015 at 11:15 am said:
  
  I just think it was these goofy pink birds being well… goofy pink birds. 🙂
  I don’t think they were particularly annoyed or upset at the alligator’s presence, maybe more curious and playful. At least that’s how it seemed.
  
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Logan Parker on August 8, 2015 at 5:38 pm said:

This is such a fun and incredible picture! Nice work! Huntington Beach State Park is my favorite place to visit and seeing all of your pictures just does more to solidify my adoration of this magical place! Thank you!

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