Phil Lanoue Photography

Sunset At The Marsh Pond

As we were leaving the marsh pond area tonight, just at sunset, I noticed this great blue heron being silhouetted by the warm setting sunlight. Off a bit in the background a young alligator was also finishing up his day with one more glide across the pond.

Afternoon Bath

Yesterday afternoon we had a group of four young spoonbills all relaxing together in the marsh pond. One of them decided it was bath time so he got up and started splashing around in the water until sufficiently clean…then walked round for a bit drying off his wings. He looked quite spiffy to me, I hope his friends were impressed because I sure was!

Morning And Evening At The Marsh

Yesterday morning in the salt marsh started off with a typical Mr. Grumpy attention grab where he shows off all his wonderfulness by prancing around holding up his bright pink wings for everyone to ogle. The real surprise of the morning however was how he managed to get along with everyone out there including a young spoonbill! The little snowy egret seemed shocked at the well mannered display while the wood storks remained stoic as usual.

Later in the evening Big Bubba made an appearance in the marsh pond and he looked very impressive as he glided in my direction. A bit later I saw a group of juvenile spoonbills feeding over on the other side of the pond and went over to watch them for a while. At that point an osprey made a few circle loops over the pond but apparently he didn’t spot anything that looked good so he quickly continued on his way. By this time the sun began to set and our group of young spoonbills decided that it was nap time so they tucked their bills back behind their wings and dozed quietly as the evening sun said goodbye to us all.

The Superhero Of The Marsh

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… well… it is actually a bird, but no ordinary bird, it’s our hero Mr. Grumpy! Yes indeed everyone’s favorite cranky spoonbill was out again this morning flying across the marsh pond, then out into the salt marsh, then back to the pond. He was everywhere, performing the impossible at each location! At one point he even stopped for a nap. Wow! This guy can do it all!

“Hey! Look What I Caught!”

This morning a great egret plucked itself a nice fish out of the salt marsh and proceeded to walk right over to me to show off his catch!

I Did Not See THAT Coming!

Yesterday evening in the salt marsh we had an assortment of the usual suspects…spoonbills (including Mr. Grumpy) snowy egrets, wood storks, and white ibis, etc. Everybody seemed to be happily feeding and enjoying the evening, and even Mr. Cranky was behaving.

Suddenly these two white ibis broke out into a huge ruckus! We aren’t sure what the disagreement was about, but what was quite surprising was that we rarely see white ibis fight. They are generally rather docile birds and tend to get along well with everyone including each other. But this pair clearly had issues, and as best as we could tell, the one on the right was the primary aggressor as he chased the other ibis back into the reeds to conclude the battle.

Couldn’t Wait?!

Earlier this week I noticed an osprey flying across the marsh pond carrying a small fish it had just plucked from the ocean. When I looked at the photos later I realized the fish was headless. Apparently the osprey had already taken a little sample bite out of it’s catch before heading off to a tree to enjoy the remainder of it’s fishy snack.

Mr. A’s Morning Nap

Monday morning after our good friend Mr. A glided over to say hi to me, I watched as he swam over to a nearby small piece of land that is sticking up from the marsh pond. I knew immediately what his plan was. Cloudless sky, perfect light breeze, and nice warm temps all combine to create the perfect conditions for a pleasant morning nap in the sun for the big guy.

The more I thought about it I quickly realized that at least someone around here knows what they’re doing…what a life he has!