Phil Lanoue Photography

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. 🙂

Time Lapse Over The Marsh Pond

Here is a 23 second time lapse of evening clouds and sunset taken tonight at the marsh pond.

Also a still photo taken about five minutes after sunset.

Mister Cool

Alligator season is winding down here along our marsh and most have begun to tuck themselves away as the weather gets cooler. But yesterday late afternoon, who do I see lounging in the soft weeds at the edge of the pond?!? Why of course it’s out old pal Mr. A making a November personal appearance!

He was all settled in when I first spotted him and was looking cool and casual as usual, but about an hour later he decided to slide into the water and patrol the area along the pond’s edge. As the evening got later and the sun began to set, you can see the water developing just a tinge of pink in the third photo. That would ultimately turn red and provide a warm and colorful sunset over the marsh pond. At this point I was hoping Mr. Cool would glide on over into the red and gold water because he always looks so good lit that way, but he choose to remain close by me there the edge of the pond as I took the sunset photo.

And yes there were still two spoonbills that showed up in the salt marsh around this time and I do have photos of them but I thought it prudent and appropriate to give Mr. A some well deserved screen time today. Look for more photos of our goofy pink friends in the next day or so. 🙂

“I Thought The Fish Here Were Fresh!”

Yesterday afternoon I was watching this great blue heron fishing in the salt marsh. I saw him strike at the water a few times and come up empty, but finally he caught himself a nice fish. At least it looked like a nice fresh fish to me, but not sure how the heron felt about it.

Soon after swallowing that fish he walked back to the edge of the water and tucked himself back into the reeds. He then fluffed himself up in an odd way and had a strange look on his face. So maybe the fish didn’t go down so well, and was possibly causing a bit of indigestion? I’m not sure, but I also could not figure out what he was looking at in that last photo…perhaps help and guidance from above? 🙂

Who’s Fish Is It Anyway?!

Yesterday afternoon I saw this osprey flying across the salt with a small fish he had just plucked out of the water. Almost instantly the osprey was jumped by a bald eagle that had been sitting in a nearby tree waiting for exactly this situation to present itself. The osprey really wanted his fish, he caught it, he assumed he owned it. So the osprey did everything it could to escape the marauding eagle. It began flying evasive maneuvers that would put any modern jet fighter to shame, but still the eagle kept up with him.

At one point the osprey appeared to be successful in shaking off the attacker, but that eagle was determined. It did one tight swoop back around and finally succeeded in getting the osprey to drop it’s prize. After grabbing up it’s plundered fish, the eagle took it into a nearby tree where by the time I made my way over the fish was down the hatch and gone.

It seems to me that the eagle could easily catch it’s own fish with likely half the effort it takes to chase around an osprey. But such is the nature of the bald eagle who is often quite happy to let another bird do the work, plus I think the eagle truly enjoys the thrill of the chase!

“Here Comes My Friend!”

Yesterday afternoon there was one lone spoonbill fishing in the salt marsh during low tide. He was not alone the entire time, there were several white ibis, snowy and great egrets, and great blue herons around to play with, but no other spoonbills…

Then finally after about 2 hours another spoonbill showed up, gliding low over the oyster beds and landing near his pal. I thought the first spoonie would act little more excited to see his friend arrive, but I’m sure he was happy to see a familiar pink face! 🙂