Some Days You Just Can’t Intimidate Anyone
One day this past weekend an alligator came floating into the area where many of the wading birds were feeding. Maybe Mr. A thought he could send off all the birds just by giving them *that* look, but it didn’t work at all this time.
First he went over and glared at Woody who seemed to not care very much and just continued on about his business.
Then he took a slow glide past a pair of spoonbills that momentarily stopped to take a look at the gator, but they didn’t fly off or panic in any way.
Finally, he cruised over to where a snowy egret was fishing but snowball was not particularly impressed and the alligator ended up swimming right on through.
Although there are indeed times when our good friend Mr. A can be a formidable sight, on this day he just couldn’t get it working.
Phil Lanoue Photography 
Honestly Phil, sometimes your gator pix freak me out. The way other creatures co-exist with them is amazing. The poor dear looks so sad in that middle pic!
I just checked the time on these and this all took place in 9 minutes in the order I showed here. Funny to see this alligator get around like that with a variety of birds in so short a time.
That alligator intimidates me…A lot.
I think if it was you or me standing out there it may have gone worse! 😮
Interesting how Mr. A was checking out each little area. I guess he was super interested either, or I bet those birds would have sensed it. The activities of these creatures is one of the most interesting things to see! Amazing. You capture the continuum/rhythm of the marsh so well!
That’s my favorite thing about it all, watching and photographing the interaction among the different species.
Sometimes the birds get all flustered if an alligator shows up and other times they don’t care. Same goes for the gator,except he usually doesn’t care much about anything because he doesn’t have to. 🙂
Well that’s a pretty impressive bunch that you got posing with your favourite creature. I’m sure the intimidation returns when he’s in the mood.
You are correct about that, it’s all in the mood. He can get grumpy at times, oh, and a bit hungry as well, that’s when it’s best everyone stay out of his way if you can.
Alligator Alley, seems like the gator though dont care about the birds, they just go about their business and know they are boss…….beautiful birds though……
The alligators can have that casual attitude because they are at the top of the food chain. Sometimes I worry when some of these birds get too complacent. Just because nobody has been grabbed lately doesn’t mean no one ever will. It is still one of my favorite behaviors to watch though. 🙂
Fantastic shots, Phil. Mr A seems to have lost his mojo. 🙂 Love the Woodstork pic.
I’m not sure he lost it, maybe he just left it back in the swamp for a little while. 🙂
What if it’s a sneaky trick to throw the birds off guard?! Yikes!
A case of ” Familiarity breeds contempt”? (Maybe not always a good idea!)
I figure it can’t always end up with nobody’s feelings hurt, but so far the birds have been doing well co-existing with the alligators.