Phil Lanoue Photography

“Nice Catch Pal!”

It was a grey and gloomy morning at the marsh pond today but there were quite a few birds out looking for breakfast. At one point a great blue heron flew low over the water and just at that moment a cormorant surfaced with a fresh caught fish. The heron, who seemed to be impressed and possibly a bit envious by his friend’s catch, gave it an admiring glance on his way by.

A Little Late Evening Fishing

I was leaving the salt marsh area recently when I saw this egret doing some late evening fishing. I decided to stop and watch him for a bit to see if he would have any luck. Well it turns out he did because within minutes he plucked himself out a fish and gobbled it down. Always nice to have a snack before turning in for the night!

Osprey Circle And Dive

This past week I was watching an osprey putting in a hard days work in the marsh pond. This is the typical behavior of a hunting osprey…it circles over an area until it spots something interesting in the water below. It then goes into a steep dive, hits the water, and hopefully comes up with a nice fish that it can take into a nearby tree.

Unfortunately the one part of the plan that often goes wrong is that part about catching a fish. It is a skillful and impressive technique that the osprey employs but… success is never guaranteed!

Swamp Babies

By late morning yesterday it started to get fairly warm so I went over to the swamp hoping some alligators might be out doing their usual alligator thing. I had in mind the two babies that I saw last month but didn’t really expect to see them. I was a bit surprised to see one propped up on some reeds and other swamp vegetation, but was even more surprised to see another little head pop up under a leaf which it proceeded to wear like a tiny hat.

Next a third baby suddenly appeared and he went over to join the first one, but they were not done yet. Number four comes slowly creeping around and they start to form a nice little group in that one spot until our little hat wearer joins yet a fifth baby… then they all decide to clump together in one general area. Notice how the leaf remains undisturbed on the little guy’s head throughout the entire process.

I had a tough time trying to shoot this through the weeds and brush at the edge of the swamp, plus there seemed to be almost always something blocking a little face from being clearly viewed.

But in spite of all that, can you spot all five baby heads in the last photo?

Afternoon Eagle Plus Bonus Alligator!

This afternoon we were about to leave when we spotted this bald eagle sitting in a pine tree at the side edge of the salt marsh. I stayed with him until he jumped off, left the tree, and flew back out across the marsh.

But…earlier in the morning…I saw this alligator gliding along very slowly in the swamp. It was a warm day today and there were a few alligators out and about including some babies! More on them tomorrow. 🙂

Got Wet, But Didn’t Get A Fish

This past weekend I was watching an osprey hunting fish in the marsh pond. At one point he dove down and hit the water hard and it took him a couple of seconds to begin to emerge. At first only his head and wings came up as he struggled to get airborne again. I expected to see a fish in his talons but as the osprey cleared the water I saw that he came up empty this time. The osprey had only wet feathers to show for this dive, and I can’t be certain, but it seemed to me that he had a look of disgust on his face as he took off out of the water.

Because You Might Miss Them…Spoonbill Portraits

It’s only been a little over a week since the spoonbills have moved on and left our marsh but I miss them already and thought you might as well.

So I thought I would post these never before seen portraits of our pink friend taken on a beautiful late evening back in August. As winter begins to arrive in many places I hope these images will bring back pleasant memories of warm summer nights to some of you as it does to me.

Introducing The Lovely Mrs. A

This is from last month over at the swamp when I was surprised to see two baby alligators out at that time of year. We normally would see alligator babies in mid to late summer, not in mid October.

I first spotted the babies swimming around in the muck and duck weed by themselves and was concerned over where mom might be. Within minutes I saw an alligator crawl up out of the swamp nearby where I was standing. The gator kind of hesitated for a moment and settled down where it began to really give me the eye. Soon it turned around, went back down into the swamp and glided over near where I had seen the two babies.

I quickly realized that I had just met mom, and she did not look tremendously thrilled to see me. She swam over to the general location of the babies and I hoped they would swim over to her and possibly even crawl up onto her head. But soon after they saw mom gliding over, both babies quickly swam back into the reeds and disappeared. I suspect she sent them off to keep them safe because right after that she turned and decided to deal with me.

Mom started patrolling the area right in front of where I was standing and I had the distinct impression that she wanted me to leave. When she suddenly lifted up her head, made a loud grunting sound and bashed it back down into the water with a big splash I got the message. I left Mrs. A and her children alone which I’m sure was the wise choice for all involved, but it was quite interesting and exciting to see her protective behavior in action.