Phil Lanoue Photography

“What! No Spoonbills?!?”

Well I *had* decided to give the spoonbills a bit less screen time and not post them for a day or two and give them a break. This especially since I was concerned about aggravating the alligators who have not been pictured here lately. I know how sensitive they can be and you don’t want to hurt any feelings therefore I came up with a compromise.

So here we have a potentially aggrieved spoonie but… also an alligator on a casual float and his young friend going eye to eye with tricolored heron both from this afternoon.

Is everyone happy now? Somehow I doubt it. Oh well…

“What ARE These Things?!?”

A snowy egret seemed particularly shocked and bewildered over the sight of two large pink birds suddenly feeding in his area of the marsh.

It’s likely this young snowy has never seen spoonbills before and doesn’t quite know what to make of them.

Once a third spoonie joined the group, snowball realized it was probably best to walk off and observe for a while just to be sure everything was OK. 🙂

“Did You Miss Me?”

Here’s one of our spoonbill friends from yesterday wanting to make sure they were missed and everyone was appropriately impressed by their surprise appearance yesterday.

I have more spoonie pics upcoming including several with their friends included as it was an interesting crowd out their in the marsh.

It could turn out to be ‘Spoonbill Week’ here on the ole blog! 🙂

Spoonbills In September

This morning we received a report that six roseate spoonbills had arrived in the marsh. The information was good news as this has been a fairly dry summer for spoonies, only the occasional quick in and out visitor.

I couldn’t get over until the afternoon and first sighted the group at the far back corner of the marsh pond area which was really too far away and no good for decent photos.

Despite it being yet another typical hot, humid, tropical weather day, I decided to stick around and the patience was rewarded. After a little over an hour, five of the six flew over to a small cove area where relatively up close viewing was possible.

I had a fun time watching these always interesting, colorful, and comical birds as they went about their business of filling up on fish and whatever else those large spatula bills can scoop up!

“Magnolia” Gets Released!

This morning, a rescued Loggerhead sea turtle who came to be named “Magnolia” was released back home into the wild of the Atlantic Ocean at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet South Carolina.

She was found stranded in nearby Litchfield Beach this past May and initially brought to the South Carolina Aquarium for treatment and rehab. Ultimately, Magnolia was transferred to Ripley’s Aquarium in Myrtle Beach and they were in charge of this morning’s release.

Read more info about Magnolia’s story here if you wish: http://www.scaquarium.org/magnolia

A huge crowd including media were on hand to cheer as the door to her pen was dropped and the now healthy loggerhead could make her way across the sand and directly to the ocean. It turned into quite an emotional moment and more then a few tears were flowing among those in attendance.

I included the first photo to show how the day started off on the beach just after sunrise this morning. It was a grand experience that none of us will ever forget!

Above and Below

This past week there was not a whole heck of a lot going on around the marsh area, so you had to keep your eyes open in case anything(one) snuck in while you weren’t paying attention.

Two juvenile white ibis came flying in above the salt marsh. One was clearly not looking where he was flying, instead checking something behind him.

A young alligator crawled out of the reeds and crept his was into the water hoping to find a nice crunchy crab snack. He shouldn’t even be in the salt water, but obviously doesn’t care.

An osprey was keeping a very sleek profile and it glided above the marsh in search of a fresh dinner.

Meanwhile, down below, a wood stork was picking through the marsh mud hoping to find something yummy tucked in there.

Glossy Ibis

Caught this glossy ibis flying in from out in the salt marsh this evening.
Nice to see one of these guys as we normally only see the more common white ibis.

“OK Boys, I’m Coming In!”

Earlier this week a wood stork made a huge production out of arriving in the marsh. Turns out though that the great blue heron was busy picking his feathers and never even noticed, and Woody’s friend seemed totally unimpressed.

Oh well, it was worth a shot I suppose.

Meanwhile, earlier in the morning, looking all the way across the marsh pond a group of egrets did not appear at all concerned about two alligators laying out on the island with them. Plus, a particularly curious tricolored heron seemed very interested in one gator’s tail.