Popular Spot

Two days ago this stump out in the salt marsh seemed to be *the* hot spot for several of the wading birds. First it was claimed by an egret who stood there for a while watching his friend fish. Then he was evicted by a different egret who immediately attracted the attention of a great blue heron.

Well naturally the heron wanted the stump, if for no other reason then he didn’t want the egret to have it. However, the blue heron could not quite fit properly standing at the very top the way the egret did, so he moved down to the lower level where he proceeded to watch an egret fish.

This did not prove to be quite as exciting as the heron hoped and he quickly became bored and as you can see in the 13 second video below, he left the area to pursue some excitement elsewhere.

40 thoughts on “Popular Spot”

Gunta on April 16, 2014 at 2:37 pm said:

Looks like everyone had a try at ‘king of the mountain’. What goofy birds.

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- Phil Lanoue on April 16, 2014 at 3:59 pm said:
  
  Yes indeed they were playing King of the Mountain! Those guys can be more then a little goofy at times.
  
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Angelia Sims on April 16, 2014 at 2:59 pm said:

The stump is not always greener! Lesson learned (maybe). 🙂

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- Phil Lanoue on April 16, 2014 at 4:00 pm said:
  
  They do this kind of thing often… I don’t really want that spot but I don’t want the other guy to have it either.
  
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  - Angelia Sims on April 16, 2014 at 5:44 pm said:
    
    Like people… lol
    
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    - Phil Lanoue on April 16, 2014 at 6:03 pm said:
      
      Heh heh, oh absolutely!
      
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Linda V. on April 16, 2014 at 3:05 pm said:

Nice pictures, atleast it looks warm there.

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- Phil Lanoue on April 16, 2014 at 4:01 pm said:
  
  It was perfect here for a few days, temps in the 80sF with bright sun and no humidity. But then got cold today. Well…cold for us.
  
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einfachtilda on April 16, 2014 at 3:21 pm said:

Exellent ♥

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- Phil Lanoue on April 16, 2014 at 4:01 pm said:
  
  Danke!
  
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acuriousgal on April 16, 2014 at 3:21 pm said:

Well done

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- Phil Lanoue on April 16, 2014 at 4:01 pm said:
  
  Thanks so much for looking!
  
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The Dancing Rider on April 16, 2014 at 3:35 pm said:

Silly boys! Loved that short vid. 🙂

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- Phil Lanoue on April 16, 2014 at 4:02 pm said:
  
  They are quite silly indeed! Glad you enjoyed the short flight vid!
  
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foxleylady on April 16, 2014 at 3:47 pm said:

What a dog in the manger! Great to see you back, Phil!

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- Phil Lanoue on April 16, 2014 at 4:03 pm said:
  
  Well I’m happy to be back Maggie and appreciate you checking out the latest story from the marsh! 🙂
  
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anotherday2paradise on April 16, 2014 at 4:30 pm said:

Thanks so much for the GBH video, Phil. 🙂 When I was a kid, we had a rhyme which we chanted at our opponents in a game. “I’m the king of the castle and you’re the dirty rascal. ” Your pics reminded me of this. 😀

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- Phil Lanoue on April 16, 2014 at 4:49 pm said:
  
  Well those goofy birds are like a bunch of kids out there sometimes, and at least as comical to observe.
  Thanks for checking this out Sylvia and glad you liked that short flight vid.
  
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Edna on April 16, 2014 at 4:36 pm said:

Now the sea gulls scene from the movie “Nemo” won’t leave my head: “Mine…mine…mine…mine…mine!” …By the way, just noticing based on your narration of time – that not 2 days after you posted how horribly sick you were, you were right back on the marsh to capture the hilarity of these birds. Whatever happened to easing back in?!

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- Phil Lanoue on April 16, 2014 at 4:51 pm said:
  
  Guilty as charged. I was *supposed* to take it easy and ease back in and in fact my wife came close to hiding the car keys on me. But… I went out anyway even though I shouldn’t have. Oh well, I’m a bad boy sometimes.
  I stayed in yesterday though. 🙂 Today, well, it’s still early. 🙂
  
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  - Edna on April 16, 2014 at 6:04 pm said:
    
    That is awesome! [I almost chocked on my candy laughing.] I guess here’s to being resolved – note, I didn’t say stubbornness – and great photos! My best to your patient and loving wife.
    
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    - Phil Lanoue on April 16, 2014 at 8:43 pm said:
      
      Oh no! There certainly could not possibly be any stubbornness involved on my part. Heh heh
      
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Victor Rakmil on April 16, 2014 at 5:04 pm said:

Great images as usual and i like the Mutual of Omaha clip at the end 🙂 Actually most of their stuff was not quite this good.

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- Phil Lanoue on April 16, 2014 at 5:06 pm said:
  
  Hey thanks a million for the kind comments Victor, I’m really happy you enjoyed seeing the pics and short vid clip!
  Wacky group out there. 🙂
  
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Patrizia M. on April 16, 2014 at 5:16 pm said:

Il ceppo della discordia ahahhaha. Bellissimi scatti Phil, complimenti!!
Ciao, Pat

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- Phil Lanoue on April 16, 2014 at 5:26 pm said:
  
  Hey Grazie Pat! 🙂
  
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David on April 16, 2014 at 5:54 pm said:

Hope the excitement was a better fishing spot.

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- Phil Lanoue on April 16, 2014 at 6:02 pm said:
  
  That’s what heron must have been hoping because he wasn’t catching anything.
  There were a few egrets all plucking out stuff but our GBH friend got skunked.
  
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Steve Gingold on April 16, 2014 at 6:36 pm said:

Popular stump indeed. We still have a wait before the long-legged folks return, so it was nice to enjoy the video.

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- Phil Lanoue on April 16, 2014 at 8:45 pm said:
  
  Well if you stop and think about it… that is a pretty nice looking stump. 🙂
  Thanks for checking these out Steve.
  
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Charlotte on April 16, 2014 at 7:05 pm said:

Looks very much like a playground turf war:) Thanks for today’s photographic entertainment, Phil! Loved the video clip!

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- Phil Lanoue on April 16, 2014 at 8:46 pm said:
  
  Ha! It really is a playground turf war! And as usual Mr. GBH gets his way. Well…until the alligators show up.
  Thanks, I’m glad you liked the pics and vid clip!
  
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Lyle Krahn on April 16, 2014 at 9:02 pm said:

Pretty bizarre to think they fight over a stump so they could watch someone fish! No wonder you like to watch their antics – you never know what’s coming. And that’s when the gator clears it out.

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- Phil Lanoue on April 16, 2014 at 10:24 pm said:
  
  The funny thing is that the stupid stump is always there and 99% of the time they ignore it. But once one bird decides that’s the place to be then they all have to take a turn standing on it even if it means evicting a current occupant.
  It would actually be a pretty good spot for a bird to stand and watch an alligator from the relative safety of the penthouse suite.
  
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Garden Walk Garden Talk on April 16, 2014 at 11:45 pm said:

I was smiling. Two images down it looks like the heron is plotting. Three images down he looks embarrassed. Four images down he looks disgusted. What a range of emotion – great captures. We have that up here too, a popular log they all want. I am going to have to pay more attention to all the birds playing musical log.

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- Phil Lanoue on April 17, 2014 at 11:45 am said:
  
  What makes the whoe situation even more comical and bewildering is how these birds can fish in the same area all the time and pay no attention to this stump or any other perch. But then one day they all decide they just *have* to stand on it. Once one does, they all have too. 🙂 A real flock mentality at work.
  
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Kate on April 17, 2014 at 8:48 am said:

I would love to spend a day shooting down there. what a beautiful set of photos!

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- Phil Lanoue on April 17, 2014 at 11:48 am said:
  
  It is a fun and interesting location. We have the salt marsh just across from a large marsh pond, plus the beach and swamp areas so several different environments all close together.
  Glad you enjoyed the photos!
  
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Rolling Harbour on April 17, 2014 at 10:40 am said:

VG example of the rivalry (friendly??) between egrets and herons – maybe a kind of co-dependence… RH

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- Phil Lanoue on April 17, 2014 at 11:50 am said:
  
  Sometimes they can all fish and get along just fine, other times one cannot tolerate the mere presence of another.
  It can be fun to observe the different behavior and personalities of the various species.
  
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