Phil Lanoue Photography

Touch And Go Landing

Great Blue Heron coming in for a tip toe landing in the marsh pond a few days ago…

Just Because You Miss Doesn’t Mean You Quit

A few days ago I saw this osprey hit the water in the marsh pond but when it came up I saw it missed the fish on this attempt. But that osprey was not to be deterred, it did one tight loop around and was quickly right back at it hovering above the water searching for the next opportunity.

Anhinga? No. Turkey Vulture

This past weekend I was surprised to see a turkey vulture acting more then a little bit odd. I’m not at all sure what this one was up to, but it definitely was behaving in a strange manner.

Vultures don’t normally fly low over the water. Vultures don’t normally land on a stump in the salt marsh. Vultures don’t normally hold their wings out Anhinga style.

The Anhinga is a water bird that needs to dry off it’s wings after it is done swimming around under water after fish. The Vulture does not go after fish or go into the water. It’s possible this Vulture was simply trying to warm itself up in the sun, but I don’t ever remember seeing one do this before.

I have also included a photo of mine from the files showing the classic Anhinga ‘wing drying’ pose for reference.

The White Pelican Convention

This morning we were very surprised to see that the American White Pelican Convention was holding it’s December 1st. meeting in the marsh pond. There were 60-70 white pelicans all over the pond, sometimes clumped in groups, other times more spread out. It is uncommon for us to see even a few white pelicans but a group this size is a rare event.

Along with the pelicans there were groups of cormorants and various species of ducks, all of which is fairly normal. Then at one point a juvenile brown pelican showed up and seemed more then a little surprised to see so many birds that were kind of like him, but not exactly the same. 🙂 I also saw a bald eagle perched in a tall tree at the back edge of the pond and he never moved a bit. Perhaps he was trying to figure out just what these very large and very odd looking birds were.

We don’t know how long the convention will be in town but I do plan to check over there tomorrow in hopes they are planning an extended stay.

Woody’s Big Muddy Score

Earlier this month I saw a wood stork snag a fish out of the salt marsh just as the setting sunlight was warming up the scene. Woody walked around, back and forth with his prize but muddied catch, before finally walking back behind the reeds to enjoy his meal in private.

Most herons and egrets will rinse off a fish that was dropped in the mud before eating it, but the wood storks are not quite that discerning.

Angry Eagle

This afternoon a rogue bald eagle entered the marsh area sending our resident eagle pair into a huge frenzy. The male eagle (seen here) took off from his tree screeching like crazy and ran off the intruder. I never knew eagles could make sounds like I heard from this one as he blasted across the sky in full chase mode.

The Lucky Ones

Today is the American holiday of Thanksgiving where the traditional main course generally served is roast turkey. However, here are a few of our local wild turkeys running free who have to consider themselves fortunate right now. 🙂

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the U.S. that are celebrating on this day!