Who’s Watching Who?
Monday afternoon I was watching this egret fishing along the edge of the marsh pond when an alligator came floating into the scene.
Now…we had the egret watching the gator…the gator watching the egret…and me watching them both…
We all ended up getting along just fine though, I never jumped in and bothered either one of them!
Phil Lanoue Photography 
Very wise of you, Phil. As the saying goes, “Two’s company; three’s a crowd.” 🙂
Yes indeed Sylvia, they didn’t need me jumping in there muddying up the waters. 🙂
Beautiful photo, but I’d be afraid of such an alligator 🙂
Oh, er ist nur ein großes Baby 🙂
Una pacifica convivenza. molto bello e molto bella la foto 🙂
Ciao, Pat
Ci stavano diventando lungo, per ora comunque.
You are so very considerate! 😉
Oh well, that’s me, Mister Consideration. 🙂
Super shot of the pair of them
Thanks for checking this out and glad you like it!
I continue to be amazed and surprised that the gator doesn’t go after all the birds, wow! I guess he’s a Mr. Nice Guy! 🙂
Yeah he’s just a big pussycat! 🙂
Have you ever seen a not-so-Mr. Nice-Guy encounter between a gator and an egret or heron?
Oooo well… something brought this boy over to the edge of the pond but I can’t post those pics. 😮
Glad you didn’t interfere! That egret would have torn you apart! 🙂
Oh no kidding! Those birds are vicious!
Great picture, but also wondered how you get in so close, do you use a zoom on them? or do you actually get that close???? I would scared to get so close to an alligator, and maybe he is a pet? lol….seems to be pretty mellow around the birds, and never knew Egrets were vicious either, every time I would see one they never seemed very vicious or threatening to me, an alligator yes, but maybe they are all friends!!!! hey you never know.
Oh I get close, but naturally I have a telephoto lens. No pets, all alligator I photograph and post are wild animals living in the wild.
I was only joking about the egret being vicious, they are quite docile birds. Well… at least to me, they can get a bit rowdy toward each other. 🙂
Lots of neat interactions there, Phil. BTW, do alligators ever blow nostril bubbles? 🙂
This guy blew bubbles at me, although, at the time I did not take it as a friendly gesture. 🙂
https://phillanoue.com/alligator-photos/#jp-carousel-224
Yeah, I think Sting wrote something about a message in a bubble. 🙂
I think I know what that gator’s message was too. 😮
I’m glad you thought better of trying to jump in and join the pair…you’d have been like Jack Tripper but most likely not alive for long…
If I would have jumped in there, the egret would have flown over to where I was, then he would have been able to watch the show of the alligator and me probably laughing about it. Smart ass bird.
The egret looks very vulnerable. I guess he can make a quick getaway.
Oh yeah, that egret can be 50 feet away in a fraction of a second.
and we are watching your awesome photo 🙂 Thank you, Phil!
I appreciate that Amy thanks.
I think they both might have fell over laughing if you jumped in. Very cool image Phil, not one seen very often I am sure.
The egret would fly off to watch and laugh from a safe distance I bet. Glad you enjoyed seeing this pair!
Despite getting a great photo, I would still chalk that up to an opportunity missed:)
Well I didn’t want to ruin my new sneakers by getting them all wet and nasty with pond gunk. 🙂
Brave, foolhardy, or both? The egret, not you, Phil!
Well sometimes me. 🙂 Thanks Maggie!
Erm, good you didn’t intervene. 🙂 They really are keeping eyes on each other, one probably for a different reason than the other! 😉
They were keeping a close eye on each other. That alligator was all fired up too because his friend had just caught something interesting nearby.
You were all very trusting souls for the moment! Those gators can be awfully fast!