Phil Lanoue Photography
I previously worked as a news and sports photographer. Recently I have been enjoying wildlife photography. My approach toward bird photos is similar to sports photography. I attempt to capture mostly action and hopefully a unique perspective.
Warm Sun
This American Mink from awhile back paused for a moment to enjoy the warm sun on it’s face and then scampered off to continue along with his day…
Nice To See You Too!
It’s always a fun time when our good pal Mr. A makes an appearance, and when he popped up in the swamp a while back, he seemed happy as always to see me. Well… at least I *think* he was happy to see me, sometimes it’s a bit difficult to tell for sure. 🙂
Putting On The Breaks
I was watching this egret fishing in the marsh pond a while back when it decided to take off but… at the exact instant before it took flight, the egret must have spotted something of interest because it stabbed at the water while forward momentum and raised wings were still driving it forward and upward! Whatever it was the egret saw managed to get away and the bird eventually did fly off, but this abrupt stop sure looks to me like it must have hurt!
What’s All The Fuss About?!?
I never was able to figure out exactly what got this snowy egret all jumpy back in salt marsh among the reeds last week. He bounced around a couple of times and I expected the whole thing was going to turn out to be an argument with another snowy but…I never did see any other birds in there.
Well, one thing I have learned is that there’s no point trying to predict what goes on in the mind of a snowy egret, those birds live in their own wacky world it seems!
Water Skiing In The Afternoon
Earlier this week we had just this one white pelican show up at the marsh pond where he floated around and fed for a short time.
Here, he water skied in for a landing, where he immediately started fishing as soon as he hit the water!
Woody Makes A Brief Appearance
Yesterday afternoon I was surprised to see this one lone wood stork fishing in the marsh pond all by itself. Normally the wood storks are here in Summer months, and normally in groups rather then alone. He was right in front of me and very close when I went over to grab a few shots, but very suddenly he burst up out of the water and took off!
The wood stork did one quick loop around overhead before flying out across the salt marsh. I wonder if I’ll be seeing this unusual winter visitor again any time soon?
Fishing At Pond’s Edge
Early this afternoon there were a couple of white ibis fishing in the shallow water along the rocks at the edge of the marsh pond. They seemed to have considerable success plucking out these small fish that I suspect were moving very slowly if at all due to the cold water temperature. The fish were easy pickings for the ibis who last time I looked appeared to be settled in for the day taking advantage of the great fishing to be had at pond’s edge.
Unusual Arrival
Earlier this week I was watching a group of white pelicans that were floating around and feeding in the marsh pond. Suddenly I saw a different large white bird come gliding into the scene… it turned out to be, of all things, a swan! At first I thought it might have been a tundra swan but no, this was in fact a juvenile mute swan who had not yet grown into it’s adult all white plumage.
It is odd to see a swan in the marsh but perhaps this youngster saw the white pelicans and thought they might be his parents. 🙂
Also note a great blue heron on the left, watching with interest as the scene unfolded.
Phil Lanoue Photography 