Phil Lanoue Photography

Patience

Last night I was watching this wood stork as it was fishing in the salt marsh at sunset. Wood storks fish by placing their large bills in the water and keeping it quite still. Although they may occasionally walk slowly with their face in the water, they often remain absolutely motionless waiting for a fish to swim by which they can grab. This one waited for quite a while and I never saw it catch anything. As it got darker, I left the stork still patiently fishing and anticipating that a fish would swim his way. I hope he was eventually rewarded for his diligence…

Tricolored Heron Fishing

Earlier this week I came upon this colorful tricolored heron that was fishing in the salt marsh. The tricolored is approximately half the size of a great blue heron and this one is in breeding color which you can tell by it’s bright blue bill, deep red eye, white head plumes, and reddish colored back plumes.

When I first saw the tri it was very close to me as you can see in the first photo. However, after I made exactly two frames, some people came by and scared the bird back a bit farther into the marsh where it continued to fish. It didn’t take long for it to come up with a tasty fish snack, which it promptly brought back into the reeds to enjoy!

Swimming In

As the weather has warmed up here the past week, the alligators have really started to wake up. And this morning we had several swimming around out in the marsh pond including this guy that came up to say hello to me. Feeding season has begun which means mating season will soon be upon us. But first the gators will start to look for food, then they will start to stake out their territory, and sometime after that they will begin to search out perspective mates. After mating season has concluded they will spend the rest of the summer and into the fall concentrating mainly on eating. It’s shaping up to be another interesting alligator season!

Greenie Fishing

Yesterday afternoon we saw this green heron fishing at the side of the salt marsh. Green herons are colorful, stocky little birds and can be very entertaining to watch as they stealthily stalk their prey along the water’s edge. This guy was apparently quite skillful as we saw him snatch several small fish out of the marsh!

Kite Flying

This past Sunday afternoon we were treated to a very quick look at a Swallow-tailed Kite as it zipped by us overhead above the salt marsh. The Swallow-tailed Kite is listed as an endangered species in South Carolina and considered to be of highest conservation concern throughout it’s breeding range in North America. In addition, it is strongly suggested that we report sightings of Kites to The Center For Birds Of Prey here in South Carolina and this one has been reported. The Swallow-tailed Kite is a sleek, elegant, black and white hawk with a long forked tail and if you notice, this one is carrying something that as best as I can tell appears to be a small green snake. Snakes are one of it’s prime food sources so that is quite possible.

Morning Walk

Yesterday morning we were out by the swamp and as usual at this time of year you have to keep an eye open for whoever and whatever might come creeping up out of the brush. I noticed a bit of movement on the marsh pond side and then saw a nose, and ultimately a big face coming up to peek out to take a look around. So our old friend Mr. Gator had decided to walk up out of the marsh and stroll on into the swamp by crossing a paved path that separates the two. Before beginning his short journey however, he took a little time to rest his chin on the path before continuing on. I don’t think he was really all that tired, but on such a beautiful morning as this…what’s the rush?!

There Goes The Neighborhood

This afternoon in the salt marsh a great egret had a nice fishing spot all to himself. Then IT happened…It starts innocently enough, a few snowys show up and start working your area. But the snowys rarely limit it to just a few…so the next thing you know there are yet more of them. A short time later and it’s a total mob scene! Notice how in the last photo the egret appears to have given up and is hanging his head dejectedly?! So that was the end of the poor egret’s quiet day of fishing, the snowy invasion had begun!

Baby Boy Is Growning Up

For the past three seasons we have been following the progress of the “baby” of the pond. We know it’s him because he is always in the same area of the marsh pond kind of tucked away in a corner away from the bigger alligators. So we were thrilled earlier this week to once again see the little guy out patrolling his private section of the pond in the shallow water among all the pond weeds.

But…it looks like our baby boy is getting bigger! What was once an 18 inch tyke, is now close to a five foot young adult. Of course most of that is tail but it’s good to know he has been thriving and some day soon should break out on his own among the big boys and claim a piece of territory and possibly compete for a mate.