Phil Lanoue Photography
I previously worked as a news and sports photographer. Recently I have been enjoying wildlife photography. My approach toward bird photos is similar to sports photography. I attempt to capture mostly action and hopefully a unique perspective.
“This Looks Like A Good Spot To Dry Off”
Thursday afternoon I noticed this unlikely pair both taking advantage of the sun and the breeze. The anhinga needed to dry his wings, and the alligator just needed a nap. The alligator never paid any attention to the bird but the anhinga did keep his eyes open and stayed alert, you know, just in case…
The Only Thing Worse Then A Tease Is A Showoff!
I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon being tormented by this osprey. It kept doing slow circles over the salt marsh apparently searching for a fish to swoop down and grab. At times it would stop and hover in mid air which is a sign the bird has spotted a fish, and then it will go into a steep dive to snatch up and pluck out the fish. This was the photo I wanted and waited for quite awhile hoping to get. But this osprey kept decoying me by hovering and then diving down right in front of me…but it would always pull up at the last instant before striking the water and then it would start the process all over again. Keep in mind there were fish visible, even to us, jumping in the water all over the place. But did this osprey ever catch one?! No it did not. It would go right back to circling around over the marsh and then fly off only to reappear in ten minutes or so and do it again. I began to take it personally and had the feeling this smug osprey was deliberately toying with me! At one point it went into an effortlessly looking ascent that must have taken it a quarter of a mile up in a matter of seconds, only to swoop back down and fly in and look at me with that face and taunting look as if to say…”Can you do that?” Of course I can’t…and this bird knew it!
This Guy Was Good But…
Yesterday afternoon I was watching this great blue heron fishing in the salt marsh and he was quite skilled at catching fish, I saw him catch several in a short period of time.
But…he kept turning his back to me whenever he caught a fish. He was fine with me being there and photographing his success, however he did not seem to wish to show off his catch to me. Maybe he thought I was going to try to take it from him and wanted to gulp it down as quickly as possible while facing away from me. My plan in any case was to let him keep whatever he caught!
It Started Out As A Nice Day…
It was a pleasant afternoon yesterday at the salt marsh so I decided to set up a time lapse to run while I was watching and photographing the various birds that were out enjoying their day. The black skimmer photos from my previous post were taken while the time lapse was running. Notice in the time lapse video how you can see the tide coming in and gradually covering over the oyster beds and filling in the marsh. In the beginning you can also see some wood storks and egrets fishing in the lower right corner.
The white fluffy clouds began to thicken and get darker and I knew a storm was moving in. You can see the darker clouds come in from the left side of the time lapse. The storm was coming from the southwest and the time lapse was pointed north toward the salt marsh. When I started to hear the thunder and saw some lightning I turned around and saw this shelf cloud rapidly move in and practically roll right over my head. At this point I stopped the time lapse and went to quickly grab a few shots of the shelf cloud before the sky opened up on me. The first photo was taken with a regular wide angle lens and the second one was taken with the 8mm fisheye.
The 42 second time lapse video was made using just over 1,000 photos, one taken every five seconds for a bit less then an hour and a half and processed at 24fps. I wish I could have let the time lapse go on longer but with the lightning and coming heavy rain I really had to get out of there!
Skimmers
This afternoon a pair of black skimmers showed up and started to work the salt marsh, zipping in and around the oyster beds and reed grass. The fast flying skimmer is one of the only birds whose lower portion of their mouth is longer then the upper portion. They drag their long, low bill in the water as they ‘skim’ for fish. The black skimmers are amazing birds to watch and photograph and they never fail to entertain as you can often hear them calling to each other with a yapping sound that sounds just like barking puppies!
“I Got One!…No I Don’t…Yes I Do!”
Yesterday afternoon we were watching this anhinga fishing in the marsh pond. The anhinga is a water bird that fishes under water by spearing the fish on the end of it’s sharp bill. It then must get the fish off of it’s bill in order to swallow it. So the anhinga will flip the fish into the air, then catch it head first for easy swallowing.
This anhinga had caught a fish…then lost it on the initial flip…then re-caught the fish, and was successful on the second attempt at the mid air fish flip! After it was done fishing it hopped out of the water onto a nearby stump to dry off. These birds will hold out their wings to let the air and the sun dry them off. It may be surprising that a water bird is not water proof, but the anhinga, like the cormorant is not. This however allows it to easily swim under the water and stay down for quite a while as it searches for fish.
A Little Mud Never Hurt Anybody!
Last week I was watching this great blue heron fishing in the salt marsh among the oyster beds when it suddenly struck hard at the water. It came up with a speared fish and the heron must’ve really pushed the fish down hard into the floor of the marsh when it struck because the fish, along with a good sized gash, had quite a bit of mud on it. Usually the great blues will rinse the mud off of a fresh caught fish before swallowing it…we have seen that many times. But this one must have been particularly hungry because he quickly knocked back the fish, mud and all!
Shrimp To Go
Last week I was watching a few Least Terns fishing in the salt marsh when this one suddenly zipped by me. I thought it might have been carrying something but wasn’t sure, and these small birds fly so fast just getting any flight shot is a challenge. Plus if one was to pluck a tiny fish out of the water, normally they snap it down immediately so it would be unusual for one to be flying around with something. It wasn’t until I looked at the photo later that I realized this tern had a shrimp. Maybe the bird was flying over to present the shrimp to a prospective mate to impress her with his hunting skills!
Phil Lanoue Photography 