“‘Gator, what ‘Gator…?”
Oh, THAT ‘gator! Last week we saw this snowy egret picking around in the marsh pond under close watch by our pal Mr. Alligator. In the first two photos snowball is just paying attention to the little fish in the water and not at all to his surroundings. By the third photo it looks like he spotted Mr. A, and snaps his head back to attention as seen in the last photo. So what happened? Well Mr. A just continued on with his lazy glide across the pond expressing no further interest in the little snowy who was now joined by his friend the tricolored heron. And everyone lived happily ever after. 🙂
Phil Lanoue Photography 
PHEW! I was about to email you and tell you that I need a head’s up if there isn’t going to be a fairytale ending on your posts. Fabulous series – love the reflections in the ripply water!
Heh heh well I promise not to spring a horror movie ending on you with no advance warning. This time everyone went merrily on their way…this time.
Thanks M I’m glad you liked these pics!
The heron is a beaut. I do wonder how you dare take these pix and these brave birds wander around so casually.
The birds really do seem to know when to be on high alligator alert. I think they also realize that the gator a bird needs to watch out for most is the one you can’t see because it’s lurking silently under the water.
Thanks for checking these out.
It always amazes me how close they get.
Not only do they often get very close, I have seen them working together. Well sort of working together. If a gator is sloshing around getting the fish all stirred up this can actually attract birds who hope to be able to take advantage of the panicked fish.
It seems that Mr. A. had no serious intentions with Mrs. snowy egret! 😛
Yes lucky for Mrs. SE that was the case! 🙂
They may be playing with gator fire but probably the gators would gag on all those feathers. So you say they may even work together. After the waders get a nice meal from the gator stirring up the water do they clean his teeth for him? 🙂
I have never seen one of the birds attempt to clean the gator’s teeth but most likely the gator is happy and wants all those chunks of whatever he just ate sticking around in his mouth for a while. 😀
I’ve tried to explain that philosophy to my floss-loving dentist…but he doesn’t fall for it. 🙂
I know how that goes… 🙂
Great ending which I presume just sets us up for the next twist in the tale.
Well lucky for the birds (maybe not so lucky for the gator) nobody was eaten *this* time.
Mr. A just cruised on by this time. Really like the shot where snowy has his head cocked when he “sees”!
Yes lucky for the birds our friend Mr. A did just do a slow cruise by this time.
That shot is my favorite of the bunch too! 🙂
So good all ends well. I bet that is not the case most of the time. Hard to pass up poultry.
Perhaps surprisingly, the alligators are much more likely to seek out fish and crabs then the birds. Although… there was a recent incident involving a raccoon. 😯
Do the gators routinely eat the birds or do they prefer fish? BTW nice series as usual.
Very rarely will an alligator grab a bird, they generally rely on fish and crabs. The birds are quite fast and can be 30 feet away in the blink of an eye so Mr. A would need to go into stealth mode and stay under the water to hunt.
Glad you like these photos!
Keep the marsh tales coming! You have a great way of putting yourself in the minds of your photo subjects. Nice shots.
I’m really happy you have been enjoying the stories and photos from the marsh Deb!
I think there was a definite ‘uh-oh’ moment there Phil! 😀
In the photo where the snowy snapped it’s head up it certainly looked like it Lucy. We thought that maybe snowball was paying no attention to the alligator which would have been unusual.
I like the last one, Mrs. SE was calm and Mr. A didn’t want to be bothered…
It is funny how the birds do remain quite calm and relaxed around Mr. A.
The alligators specialize in being calm and relaxed however. 🙂
Wow!!! Fantastic photos!
Thank you very much Linda I’m happy you enjoyed them!
I love a happy ending!
Oh well sure you have to love a happy ending! 😀
Nice story!!! Excellent shots!!!
Thanks so much I’m happy you enjoyed the photos and story!
Another fun sequence of some great images.
I’m really glad you had a good time viewing this sequence Gunta, thanks!
Great story and excellent shots Phil.
Thank you very much Jan I am happy you enjoyed these.
Nice composition on the last one with the gator, egret, and heron. All are fine photos.
I greatly appreciate your very kind comments, thanks!
So glad there was a happy ending Phil. Smashing series!
Gotta love happy endings right?! Thanks Adrian!
Oops ! Do I need to worry about you? Love how you capture the emotion and moments on the marsh.
I’m really happy you enjoy these Emily!
Looks like the gator decided to go look for some tourists instead. Great blog you have here Phil!
As far as the gators getting some tourists, we can only hope… 🙂
Thanks for checking out the blog I appreciate it!
Do you think animals and birds recognise each other? It really seems as if they do, doesn’t it?
I really think they do Maggie! I have seen many times where some will act certain ways only around certain other animals and that behavior is repeated so they must know what they are doing.
Glad the little egret wasn’t lunch!
Great shots!