Phil Lanoue Photography

“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!

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!

Dinner Rudely Interrupted

Last night in the salt marsh the always entertaining snowy egrets were among the birds feeding at low tide. At one point the snowy on the left had just pulled a small fish out of the shallow pool of water and was in the process of eating it when he got jumped from behind by a jealous competitor. Trying to run and swallow while being chased by an angry, fluffed up aggressor is no fun for sure, but so it goes in the snowy egret world where every meal is a potential adventure!

Evening Activity In The Marsh

Here is a sample of some of the activity that took place during the evening this past weekend. We had some of the usual suspects such as great blue herons, wood storks, and spoonbills. But there were a few surprises as well, such as this clapper rail that plucked itself a crab out of the salt marsh, and the white pelicans pictured were among a group of 40 that flew over the marsh. And of course our good friend Mr. A was out gliding along in the pond at sunset. I saw him being silhouetted by the warm gold and orange colors of the setting sunlight.

Leaving So Soon?!

Last night was cloudy and overcast and just when it was starting to get dark our cranky pink friend arrived and started to feed. There also happened to be an egret in the same area and they got along just fine for a while until the egret apparently had enough and decided he needed to immediately leave the area. The spoonbill seemed a bit shocked that anyone wouldn’t want to hang around with him for the evening…especially since he’d been working on his social skills and was finally learning to coexist well with other birds! And even worse…poor spoonie seemed lonely and forlorn over having been abandoned.

Wood Storks In Love

Last night in the salt marsh a large crowd of wood storks came in at one point to feed during low tide. The storks were behaving in their usual manner…sticking their bills in the water trying to grab fish, and fussing and squabbling with one another at the same time. This pair however were not involved in any of that, they only had eyes for each other. They spent their time grooming and nuzzling and seemed to be seriously in love. 🙂

Some of you may remember the photos from earlier this month of the pair of amorous wood storks canoodling in a pine tree. Could this be the same pair?! It’s possible, I have no way of knowing for sure, but I can say this is definitely not the usual wood stork behavior we normally see, so these two really stood out.