Phil Lanoue Photography

The Last Spoonbill?

I knew we would be getting a two day cold front moving into the area starting Tuesday night, so Tuesday afternoon we went out hoping to catch a glimpse of a spoonbill for what could very likely turn out to be the last sighting of the year. We found one far off in a back out of the way corner of the marsh pond and I grabbed a couple of documentation shots just to have for the dated files. I assumed I would have to content myself with just those file photos because there was no way I could get closer for better shots.

It was not long however before we were shocked to see the spoonie take off and start flying right at us! It did a circle glide almost directly over our heads then headed off across the marsh. It was almost as if it did a ceremonial fly by salute on it’s way further south for the winter The fifth photo here is a ‘butt shot’ and the final photo I took of not just this spoonbill but quite possibly the final spoonbill photo of 2013.

We searched Wednesday and today and did not see any spoonies at all so this could most certainly be the end of our run. If that’s the case we are all thrilled because it was the best summer ever for our pink friends since they first started arriving in the marsh area in 2009.

If I do happen to see another spoonbill in the next few days I will post photos and then have to do another “Last Spoonbill” post. 🙂

American White Pelicans

Last week I was quite surprised to see a small group of white pelicans come gliding in from the ocean side and head out over the salt marsh. I say surprised because the American White Pelican is not a very common bird for our area. We are much more likely to see the brown pelican. The white pelican is a very large bird and has the second largest wing span of any bird in the United States, only the California Condor has a bigger wing span.

This group took a nice wide circle over the marsh pond providing me with some excellent views, before finally heading off into the sun.

Sometimes You Get One…Somtimes You Don’t

The bald eagle wasn’t the only bird out yesterday morning plucking things out of the marsh pond…there were also several ospreys working the area as well! I saw ospreys hit the water a few times and come up empty, but in general they have a pretty good success rate.

But I guess that’s why they call it fishing and not catching, you don’t always get a fish every time you try, but you still keep going out there!

The Morning Hunter

This morning I spotted a bald eagle gliding across the marsh and I kept watching him as he started swooping low over the pond. Even though earlier I had seen a raft of mixed ducks out in the pond, I gave little thought to them as I assumed the eagle was looking for a fish. But when the eagle did a strafing run over the ducks I quickly identified his target…

Bald eagles will often hover and dive down toward ducks scattering them and causing them to submerge themselves under the water, providing what the ducks hope will be safety from attack. But…they can’t stay under very long and the eagle knows this quite well.

The eagle’s tactic here is to isolate an individual from the group and try to time a dive exactly right to hit the water just as the hapless bird surfaces. After a couple of failed attempts, the bald eagle splashed down and managed to pluck itself out a nice plump coot for breakfast. The intrepid hunter kept a tight grip on the coot as it flew back out toward the salt marsh with it’s prize!

Liftoff!

This morning I was surprised to see a brown pelican fishing in the marsh pond. Must mean colder weather is on the way, which will surely result in our last remaining pair of spoonbills leaving us any day now to make their way south for the winter.

Quick Departure

Two nights ago I saw this great egret in the marsh pond silhouetted by warm setting sunlight. He seemed to be relaxing and just taking in the sights when suddenly he got quite a bit agitated. He started squawking at someone or something and quickly left the area. I never saw what it was that got the egret all riled up but I suspect that as usual, it’s another egret all the way on the other side of the pond that needs to immediately be chased off…

A Young Mr. Cranky?!?

Earlier this week I was watching a juvenile spoonbill and white ibis feeding together in the salt marsh and they seemed to be getting along just fine. Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, the spoonbill just reached over and snapped at the leg of the ibis! The ibis appeared quite startled by this unprovoked act and quickly moved over and got out of the spoonie’s way. The spoonbill however went right back to feeding as if the whole thing never happened.

This immediately reminded me of a certain other grumpy individual who has been well known to nip at another bird’s tail or leg with no provocation. So could this be a future Mr. Cranky in the making?! I plan to keep a very close eye on this young upstart. 🙂