Phil Lanoue Photography

This End Up

Yesterday afternoon I saw this osprey pluck out a fish from far off in the marsh and fly off with it. The osprey turned and flew in my direction and I grabbed some photos as it went by. When I looked at the first picture later, I noticed that the osprey was flying with it’s wings in the normal position pointed down, but it’s head appeared to be turned and looking up! Maybe it was keeping an eye out for the eagle who is well known for chasing an osprey to take away it’s fish. Actually, I think the osprey was probably shaking water off of itself, they will often do that while in mid air.

“Hey Watch This!”

Yesterday afternoon I saw a brown pelican fishing in the salt marsh when suddenly another pelican came swooping in with the apparent intention of impressing his friend with an amazing dive move! In the last photo, as the pair are floating along down the marsh, he looks like he is saying to the spectator…”So, what did ya think of that?! Pretty cool right?!”

Sadly, I do not think the display had the desired effect as his friend seemed less then impressed and in fact never even changed expression. I, however, was quite impressed…but I suppose in pelican world what I think doesn’t count for much!

The Arrival

A great egret makes a huge production out of his arrival in the marsh…unfortunately there were no other birds around to impress and appreciate the bold display.

It also looks like our pal Mr. Egret has lost a good size piece of one of his primary wing feathers on his right wing. It can be a tough marsh out there!

Looks Like Spring Has Arrived

So this morning I went over to the swamp not really expecting anything much to be going on but hoping I might catch a few ducks still hanging around the area. I wasn’t there two minutes before I glance down a pathway and who do I see sneaking himself across and back into the swamp?!? Yes indeed, it’s our old pal Mr. Gator! Apparently he had been mucking about in the mud on the other side of the swamp and decided he needed to wash off. So I went down to where he entered the water and watched as he slowly glided himself through the dried rushes, and back into the depths of the swamp.

Well OK then…I suppose Spring is officially here!

Nice Day For Fishing

Yesterday afternoon we were watching this young brown pelican fishing in the salt marsh. They can be quite entertaining to observe as they fish, since their technique is somewhat less then graceful. A brown pelican hits the water with a head first crash looking as if it was just tossed from a moving vehicle! As odd as it may appear however, this system works very well for them. At one point we saw this guy come up with a nice fish, swallow it down, and then fly off to continue on with his day of fishing.

Hard At Work

This time of year we do have some wood storks in the area but not two hundred as we might in the summer, it’s more like two individuals. This pair were hard at work fishing in the salt marsh while at the same time a great blue heron was busy ignoring the storks. That’s just fine with the wood storks as they don’t need any interference from a pesky blue heron. The blue herons often feel free to comment on most anything that takes place in their vicinity, so it was just as well that this one decided to sit quietly while the storks went about their business. Eventually they moved further down along the marsh picking up small fish and shrimp and whatever else they might find appealing. The wood storks are large birds and although they do mostly feed on minnows they are frequently hard at work finding them because they need to eat a lot of these tiny fish to sustain them.

Snack Time

This little Tricolored heron was enjoying snatching little fish out of the salt marsh on a cold February afternoon. Catching and eating tiny fish and shrimp is typical for one of the smaller waders like this tri. Although they will occasionally grab a larger fish if the opportunity presents itself, they generally seem quite content to keep busy hunting for the smaller prey which makes up the majority of their diet.

The Bleacher Seats

When I first saw this brown pelican gliding along the salt marsh scooping up some fish, it seemed like he had a crowd of spectators lining the upper deck seating area watching the performance. I quickly realized however, that the snowy egrets were paying absolutely no attention at all to the pelican. They were completely preoccupied with their own preening and seemed to have no interest at all in the pelican’s fishing action and technique! I thought the pelican might have hung his head down a bit and had a sort of dejected look on his face after failing to impress the fans in the seats.