Phil Lanoue Photography

Mrs. Merganser and Friend

This past week I was surprised to see this solitary female merganser duck picking around among the duckweed in the swamp. I usually see mergansers in pairs or small groups, rarely alone. But it turns out that Mrs. Merganser was not alone…she had a turtle friend sitting on a log out there also enjoying the late morning sun!

Too Close

One of the standard wildlife photographer laments is that the subjects just are not close enough. I myself have been in that situation many times where I wish I could move in closer, I wish the animal would come in closer, or I wish I had a much longer lens.

However that was not the case yesterday afternoon when seemingly out of nowhere an osprey with a fresh caught fish came suddenly swooping in right over my head. The only problem for me was that he was too close! As you can see I clipped the wings off of the osprey with my camera lens as I was taking the overhead flight shots.

I suppose I can’t complain too much though, at least I did get an up close and personal view of a very cool bird!

Man Of Mystery

Just prior to sunset yesterday in the salt marsh, a great blue heron was striking a mysterious looking pose with just his face being lit by the last bit of sunshine falling on the reeds.

Snowys Being Snowys

Yesterday afternoon a couple of snowy egrets were among the crowd over in the salt marsh during low tide. But of course, as is typical of snowys, they are rarely capable of getting along with one another.

When this one aggressive snowy arrived he proceeded to run off his friend that was quietly feeding and minding his own business. Naturally that was not enough, he couldn’t just run off the other snowy, he had to turn it into and full out airborne chase across the marsh.

Once he was satisfied that he successfully managed to claim sole ownership of the fishing spot, it was time for a well deserved fluff up to congratulate himself on a job well done!

Just Passing By

Earlier this week I looked up just in time to see this white ibis come flying in from back in the salt marsh. I managed to click off one frame and one frame only, and this was it. Looking at the photo later I was taken by the elegant simplicity of the scene, combined with the peculiar yet extraordinary look of the bird. With that impossible long curved orange bill, bright blue eyes, and large white wings with black tips, the ibis is indeed a wonder of nature.

I often see ibis quietly going about their daily business but it’s worthwhile I feel to stop occasionally and take a moment to notice and enjoy the unique and interesting wildlife that can be found in nature.

Full Steam Ahead!

I went over to the swamp yesterday with the idea of looking for alligators and although I did see mom and a couple of her babies, they were tucked back deep in the reeds and were clearly not planning to make themselves available for photo ops.

As usual, there were quite a few coots out picking at the various aquatic vegetation not bothering anyone at all. However, I did take notice of this one coot that was floating quietly and basically minding it’s own business because I also saw that another coot was approaching rapidly from the side. I knew the first coot immediately noticed the advancing intruder because it whipped it’s head around to the left as the second coot came blasting in.

This bird was really moving and went into full pursuit mode in what I suspect was a territorial dispute. He launched himself up and out in a flying run across the water, and with a huge splash and managed to chase off his competitor who can be seen in the very bottom of the last photo as it rapidly departs the area.

An Hour In The Life Of An Egret

Earlier this week I spent about an hour watching an egret go about it’s business in among the oyster beds in the salt marsh during low tide. It was an active hour for the bird too…

He plucked out a nice fish for himself.

Made sure he looked all spiffy.

Had to jump out of the way to avoid being run over by a passing great blue heron.

A typical action packed afternoon for one of the large wading birds in the marsh!

American Mink

This morning I went up the beach to the north jetty area and was not there too long when this wet mink popped out from among the rocks and gave me a good looking over.

Right away it jumped back down and I knew it was scurrying along the jetty somewhere under the rocks. A short time later I saw the cute little guy briefly pop back up, sniff the air a few times, take another look at me, and then disappear back behind the rocks. I waited for a while hoping he would reappear and maybe jump in the water and grab a fish. I never did see the mink again but now that I know he is in that general area I will be sure to make a return visit and hopefully catch another sighting of the exceptionally cute mink!