Phil Lanoue Photography

“Coming Through!”

“Out of the way boys, I’m coming through.”said the spoonbill last night as he jumped up out of the marsh pond and flew over this group of wood storks.

It almost looks as if these egrets were bodyguards forming a protective shield around the alligator. Did Mr. A tick off some other alligator so he requested protection from these egrets?! If that’s his plan I don’t think it is very well thought out. The egrets will very likely flee immediately at the first sign of any type of physical encounter, especially among alligators.

Or maybe Mr. A is actually the bodyguard protecting the egrets from some particularly grouchy great blue heron? Either way, they all seem to be on high alert, although in this case it makes much more sense for the egrets to be the ones to remain on alert!

The Jump Off

One of the most fun and interesting types of bird photos I enjoy taking are those of when a bird decides it’s time to leave and flies away. I refer to that exact moment as the ‘jump off’. I spend a lot of time observing and attempting to recognize certain aspects of a bird’s behavior, attitude and body posture, to predict when it’s likely to jump off, so I can hopefully be ready to capture this action. I blink or turn my head at that time and it’s over and I missed it.

This past weekend I was watching everyone’s favorite grumpy pink spoonbill when he started to have ‘the look’. I have seen this before and suspected he had enough of the crowd in the near corner of the marsh pond and was ready to head off on his own. Sure enough…he did jump off and I grabbed a few shots as he left. In the last photo, notice how just after he clears the edge of the pond around the reeds and enters open water, he flies by a group of egrets that appear mildly bemused by the sight of this odd pink bird gliding by.

Woody’s Big Breakfast

Friday morning I looked to my left just in time to get a piece of this wood stork flying in with a nice fish it had just plucked out of the marsh pond. Woody landed right in front of me and proceeded to parade around his catch while simultaneously wrestling with it.

At the same time I glanced behind me and noticed this juvenile spoonbill coming in for a landing next to another wood stork. You can also see a snowy egret and two tricolored herons in the background. But by the time I turned back around again Woody had already gulped down his fish. That was fast!

Aerial Combat

We have had several ospreys in the pond area lately taking advantage of the fish which we often see jumping out there. We also have a pair of bald eagles that are frequently seen standing in trees at the back edge of the marsh. The eagles are more then happy to sit around and let the osprey do all the work, and then come swooping in like a pirate to plunder the goods!

Earlier this week an osprey plucked a small fish out of the marsh pond and it wasn’t a huge surprise to see an eagle come flying in with the intention of relieving the osprey of it’s catch. A mid air battle ensued and although the ospreys will use every evasive maneuver in their playbook, they generally are no match for the larger and more aggressive bald eagle. So, as is typically the case, this osprey was coerced into giving up and dropping it’s fish…and if you look carefully at the last two photos you can see the fish about to be scooped up by the victorious bald eagle.

Is Mr. Cranky Still…Cranky?!

Yesterday morning as the action slowed down and the birds were done feeding, most everyone was taking it easy and enjoying a quiet time in the marsh pond. But I could tell one bird, a certain Monsieur Cranky, was feeling just a bit feisty. One of the young spoonbills must have gotten the same impression because he jumped out of Cranky’s way with only a look needed from the elder bird to get the message across. Mr. Cranky’s reputation by now is well known and I guess the juvenile just figured it was the safest and wisest move.

At this point it looked like everyone had calmed down and one spoonie was even on one leg preparing for a nap. At first Mr. Cranky appeared to be on board with going into a full relaxation mode but that good behavior of course would not last long. He just had to take a few steps over and bite his friend on the tail in an attempt to liven things up a bit and let the other spoonbills know who was really in charge around here.

The offended juvie did not make a big deal out of a little bite on the tail, and he basically stood his ground which may come back to ‘bite’ him later. 🙂 Notice also how the other spoonbill stayed up on one leg and kept himself out of the altercation. The two young tricolored herons preferred to ignore the ill mannered behavior as well which was a wise decision.

Morning Flights

Just a few flights from this morning at the marsh pond. A juvenile spoonbill took flight across the water where earlier this osprey plucked out a fish. A great egret also flying low to the water and a bald eagle soaring high above. Lucky for the osprey that he caught his fish prior to the arrival of the eagle because that eagle would more than likely have jumped the osprey to take away it’s fish.

And of course I had to include a shot of our favorite dysfunctional spoonbill Mr. Cranky, who other then one minor tail biting incident managed to mostly behave himself this morning!

Unintended Consequences…

Earlier this week I was watching this alligator as it slowly floated around in the marsh pond. I could immediately tell something along the edge of the pond caught his attention as he started going into a stealthy stalking mode. I figured he likely spotted a crab or big fish and was headed over to see if he could snag it. There was some sort of pink colored debris there in the reeds that I had previously noticed, but I didn’t think the gator was interested in that. Well it turns out that was precisely what caught the alligator’s attention and once he grabbed it and lifted it up, I recognized it as a pink rubber flip flop sandal.

At this point I assumed he would bite down on the shoe, realize it was inedible, and spit it back out. But to my surprise he proceeded to carry the flip flop out from the reeds and back into the pond…however I was still waiting for him to discard rubber shoe. What happened next to…my horror…was that the alligator chewed down on the pink sandal a few more times before finally gulping it down whole!

This can not be good I’m thinking. I know that alligators will pick up and sometimes eat all sorts of things but I’m not sure if it can successfully break down and pass a rubber shoe, or if it will clog up the alligator’s digestive system. After swallowing the flip flop the alligator floated over near to my location and had a bit of a confused look on his face as if he was trying to decide if perhaps eating that shoe may not have been a wise decision. I’ve been keeping my eye out for him in the past couple of days and will continue to do so.

So these are the unintended consequences of leaving things behind…particularly in an area where wildlife is present in significant numbers. Someone loses an item such as this then leaves and thinks nothing of it. Later an animal finds it and the seemingly innocent act of dropping a rubber shoe could end up causing injury or possible even death to that animal. Plastic beverage bottles are another concern. We routinely pick up such discarded trash carelessly left behind by those that are there to admire nature and it’s creatures. It is our hope that people will stop and think about how one small casually discarded item could potentially affect an animal even such as a large alligator.