Phil Lanoue Photography

Dancing And Prancing In The Marsh

Yesterday morning we were tremendously entertained by this tricolored heron that was performing a routine in the marsh pond. He was sticking his wings up and running all around presumably hunting for food but I never saw him actually catch anything, he seemed to be more interested in putting on a display for everyone. Naturally our friend Mr. Alligator was in the audience and enjoying the show, although he appeared less then impressed. It takes quite a lot to impress an alligator so I’m sure the tricolored was not disappointed in the lack of reaction. Often, no reaction from an alligator is a good thing anyway from the perspective of the small waders!

Finally the little tri settled down and wandered off along the edge of the pond to continue his hunt for breakfast with a much calmer approach.

Morning At The Marsh

To start things off today I thought y’all might enjoy an overall wide view of the marsh pond courtesy of the 8mm fisheye lens. If you look carefully in the lower right corner in the reflected water, you can see Mr. You Know Who slowly gliding along.

What started out looking slow with not much happening eventually turned into a busy morning at the marsh pond. An alligator and tricolored heron both seemed to be concentrating on feeding in the same area. The alligator simply ignored the plucky little tri as the bird waded by searching for small fish. An anhinga pulled a double skewer move on this fish that it popped up with along the side of the pond. A young gator was stirring up the dark water in a small well concealed corner area we call “baby cove” because several small gators live and feed there… wisely staying out of the way of the bigger boys!

A great blue heron appeared to be on an important mission as it flew across the tree line. A little blue heron was also spotted fishing for minnows in among the pond weeds in the shallow water. And we were very excited to see the first of the summer appearance by a roseate spoonbill! These pink birds never fail to create a buzz and often draw a crowd whenever they stop by our marsh area for a welcome visit. Although this one was flying quite a distance off at the back edge of the pond I had to include a photo of it since I look forward to seeing a spoonie every year!

Alligator and Tricolored Heron

Anhinga

Young Alligator

Great Blue Heron

Little Blue Heron

Roseate Spoonbill

Time Lapse Of Clouds And Tide

Here is a 39 second time lapse video I took yesterday afternoon at the salt marsh. You can see that as the clouds roll on by, the tide comes gradually flowing in…eventually covering up the oyster beds completely. There are some very brief appearances by wood storks and egrets as well.

Happy Bird…Unhappy Fish

Last week there was a great blue heron still fishing in the marsh pond just at sunset. I’m sure the bird was quite happy that he stayed out late in hopes of getting a last minute meal before calling it a night, because that strategy worked out fine. The fish… well not so much. The evening would have gone much better for the fish if the blue heron had quit sooner!

Mr. Alligator’s Morning

Yesterday morning started off quietly enough for our pal Mr. Alligator. He was all settled in on a nice relaxing spot for a pleasant nap and didn’t even mind sharing the space with a cormorant. After the cormorant left though was when the morning started to unravel for our gator friend. Some other alligator had the nerve to purposely do an in your face swim by Mr. Gator’s nap area. This caused our boy to wake up and turn around which was a lot more effort then he had planned for his morning I’m sure. He also felt the need to dramatically show his displeasure at the unauthorized appearance by the intruder. Under normal circumstances, this would have required an active response, which would have included a chase and a stern warning. But as I said…all that would have been a huge effort for Mr. Gator who really just wanted a nice morning nap. So after concluding his display of irritation, he decided it would really just be easier to go back to sleep and try to salvage the rest of the morning.

Anhinga Catches Fish…Flips Fish…Loses Fish

Earlier this week I was watching an anhinga fishing in the marsh pond. As many of you know by now the anhinga is an expert at spearing, flipping, and swallowing fish. They almost never miss…almost. On this day however the anhinga bounced a fish off his head during the swallow portion of the event, and missed out on a nice snack. Nine times out of ten the anhinga makes this catch, but I guess this attempt must have been number ten!

A Cranky Alligator Is No Good For Anybody!

Earlier this week I saw these two alligators in the marsh pond looking like they were about to get very friendly. I figured the one in the foreground was a large male and the other a smaller female. I concluded this due to the fact that they stayed together side by side for a while. If it was two males they would not have gotten along at all, plus this larger one I recognized as being the one who feels he’s “head gator in charge” and his job is normally to patrol the pond and chase off all the smaller male rivals. I waited for a bit to see if there would be a love connection but possibly she was not in the mood because she just suddenly swam off to the side leaving our boy frustrated and alone.

At first he seemed to take the rejection well…he simply continued on in a leisurely float across the pond. But I quickly noticed that the big guy had stopped and seemed to be lifting his head up out of the water. Once he got his head all the way up he let out a loud bellow with a deep bass sound that could be heard across the marsh. So…apparently he was not too pleased with how his morning was going and with him in that kind of mood, it will be nothing but bad news for all the other alligators who might have been looking forward to a calm, stress free day!

One Year Anniversary

I have recently reached the one year anniversary of my wildlife photo blog here on Word Press. When I started this back in June 2012 I had no idea if anyone would ever look at it. Now, one year later, I am thrilled to have so many wonderful folks checking in to view my photos and write such kind, thoughtful comments. I greatly appreciate all the interest and support you all have shown me over this these past 12 months, and I value each and every one of you tremendously. Every time I head out to watch and photograph the various wildlife in our area I always think of you folks and try to come back with some pictures and maybe a story that hopefully everyone will enjoy. So often you tell me that you do, and that really keeps me going back out there and adds to the pleasure I feel from being in nature.

For today’s post I went back over the past year and pulled out a few of my favorite photos and, I hope, some of yours as well. These are presented starting with the earliest posts first, leading up to the most recent. Some of these you may remember and some of you may be seeing them for the very first time. Either way I hope you enjoy these and I once again thank you for being there for me!

Phil