Drama In The Marsh
Yesterday afternoon these two egrets surprised me by engaging in some particularly serious fighting in the marsh. One aggressive egret swooped in and jumped on the other, trying to stand on it’s back and shove the poor guy under the water. To make matters worse, there was an alligator gliding through the water right behind them as this battle was taking place! Lucky for the egrets, the gator ignored the action and just kept right on going on his merry way.
If you look closely at shots five and six, you may be able to see yet another young alligator in the lower left that comes in to investigate the situation. Although this caused the egrets even further agitation, finally they were able to separate and could now safely go on about their business.
Feathers and egos were clearly quite ruffled though!
Phil Lanoue Photography 
That’s taking it to another level! Were they feudin’ or fu..fu..fu..fussin’? 😉
Oh this was a huge fight, one of the most intense I have seen involving egrets.
Needing to learn to play well with others then.
Some of these birds will never learn I’m afraid.
Can’t we all just get along?
Not yesterday afternoon they sure could not!
Phil, I always see you new wild life images come across my screen. Each one is so awesome. You do great work. In this one I love the dangerous dance of the birds with each other and the water.
I appreciate your kind comments and I’m glad you enjoyed seeing this pair of battling egrets.
Very dramatic!
They were really going at it, much more then normal. Thanks for looking.
So beautiful photographs…. Thank you dear Phil, love, nia
Thank you very much Nia, glad you liked these egrets.
Oh my! Those are some stunning shots, Phil. I guess nature has drama just like we do!
Yes there can be some intense drama out there sometimes. Thanks for looking.
Dramatic shots! So did all the other birds in the marsh yell fight and come over to watch or was it just the photographers?
It almost did happen exactly like that! Our electronically tuned in egret friend Radar came zipping over as the fight progressed. I thought at first he just wanted to watch but turned out he wanted to chase off the other egrets.
The nearby alligators had great seats for all the action though!
I think the alligator was wise to steer clear. Those egrets look mean fighters.
Well I know I would not want to be pecked in the leg with that sharp bill by an egret that was very mad at me. Yikes!
Amazing actions shots! It’s weird to see the one get so deep in the water.
I could not believe how one stood on top of the other one and jammed him down into the water. I think that’s the first time I ever saw that occur.
Wow! Impressive 🙂 I’ve seen the male swan on my closest stretch of the canal really lay into another young male who wandered into their territory. He chased him all the way up onto the road and then pinned him down with his body whilst biting his neck. This looks like the same sort of territorial behaviour that often happens during breeding seasons. Fabulous series of photographs 🙂
I’m glad you liked these, thanks very much!
😀
Stunning shots Phil! Luckily the fight didn’t end badly. That alligator looked like he was waiting for dinner. 😀
The nearby alligators seemed more shocked then anything to be witnessing this aggressive bird behavior! 🙂
I don’t blame them! Here we have the Egyptian Geese that likes to fight. 😆
It’s funny how some birds really seem to enjoy fighting with their friends. 🙂
We should tell them to stop watching what some humans do. 😆
Impressive, the picture and these scene !!!!!
Have a nice day Phil
Thank you Sophie I appreciate you looking and commenting!
funny, never thought of bird fights, especially egrets, you take really beuatiful amazing shots.
Here’s a post where two egrets were really going at it!
https://phillanoue.com/2013/01/30/a-slight-disagreement/
Glad you enjoy the photos!
Such beautiful birds, such nasty behaviour!
Sometimes they can get along just fine, other times well… 🙂
Impressive series of great captures!
Thanks much for checking these out!
That is some serious action. I felt bad for the poor guy being shoved under! Good thing the alligator didn’t want a larger meal at that time, so as to “lead by example”, as the younger one might have joined in. The egret with the upper hand must be super territorial, or just not like the other guy. It looked like the bottom guy barely got away!
I don’t think I ever saw an egret jam another one down into the water like that. I was rather surprised.
It’s hard to tell, but in photos 5-7 that young alligator is lunging right toward the egret victim. Not sure if it was just going for a fish though. I didn’t even realize those gators were right there until I looked at the photos later.
Wow! That does look like a serious altercation, Phil. Glad you were there to capture the shenanigans. Great pics. 🙂
Are these two siblings? They remind me of a certain duo residing under my roof at the moment…
Excellent action sequence. What did they sound like?