Phil Lanoue Photography

Nice Day For A Swim

Peering through the reeds at the edge of the swamp earlier this week, who should I see gliding by in the water but our old pal Mr. A!

Yes he was out taking advantage of the unseasonably warm temps we had here along the coast of South Carolina while much of the United States was suffering with a deep freeze.

After cruising over briefly to say hello, my alligator friend turned and glided away… no doubt on his way to finding a nice comfy spot to nap and soak up a little December sunshine.

Here are a few from of the hit cartoon series starring the always hilarious hooded mergansers! These two look like they’re telling jokes and they must be really funny ones because they sure seem to be cracking each other up. 🙂

You just have to love the hoodies!

Look Who Terned Out Today

This morning I was watching some Forster’s Terns swooping and diving around the salt marsh. These birds are one of the most (quite possibly *the* most) challenging bird in flight subjects I will ever photograph. Forster’s Terns are small, VERY fast and erratic flyers. They somehow seem to be able to move quickly in any direction instantly, and then dart away or dive down with no predictable pattern. Plus this morning we had a stiff wind blowing out across the marsh which made trying to follow focus one of these tiny jets extremely difficult as they got blown about.

They often fly with their heads facing down looking for a fish that can be snatched from the water with a speedy dive . Here, one emerges from the water, flies out across the marsh, then shakes itself off before zipping back out to action once again. I was close to being dizzy by the time I left. 🙂

Hoodies!

Well it’s that time of year again as winter approaches and the ducks start moving into our area. My favorite of all the ducks are the hooded mergansers. To me, they look like a cartoon character or somebody’s idea of a comical creature from another world. Plus, the males are just so darn cute especially when they pop up their white head crest. Sometimes they bob up their entire head and fan out that crest at the same time which can appear quite humorous.

The female merganser, seen along with her boyfriend in the fourth photo, has what I have often heard described as ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ hair. They are indeed quite the pair and the always amusing hoodies never fail to entertain. 🙂

I took quite a few photos of them going about their business today in a nearby pond so you all will likely be seeing more hoodie pics as the week goes on!

“What?! It’s You Again?!?”

One day last week I saw this bald eagle come gliding in toward me from out across the salt marsh. He took a glance down toward me and I’m not going to say he looked annoyed to be seeing me yet again down there pointing something up at him but…I was happy when he just continued on his way without giving me so much as a second look, or likely a second thought.

Just Another Beautiful Day In The Swamp

It started off being yet another unseasonably warm day so I thought there may be some alligators out in the swamp taking advantage of our current Spring like temps. I saw a few gliding along out in the clear water but when I checked in close I spotted this little guy making his way through the duckweed like he was on a mission.

I was a bit surprised to see one of our late babies still out and active at this time of year and I was interested to learn where he was going. Well it turned out he was headed over to his favorite log, (well for him it’s more of a stick) to relax and enjoy a pleasant day in the swamp!

Of Course…They Don’t Always Miss!

Lately I have been posting photos of ospreys either diving down into the water and missing a fish, or…catching a fish and then getting jumped by an eagle who steals it. So I thought it would be a good idea to do the intrepid osprey a little justice and show one from earlier this week who not only caught a fish, but caught two! And got to keep them both!

Great job done by the skilled hunter on this mission!