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.
“Quick…Look Behind You!!”
Last week we saw this great egret catch itself a nice fish in the salt marsh. Often, after catching the fish, a bird like an egret will take the fish away from the water and deal with it on land. The idea being that should it drop the fish, it won’t be landing in water where it might swim away. The bad part about dropping the fish in the marsh at low tide however is that no bird likes to eat that nasty mud which now coats much of the fish.
This egret was about to have a bigger problem however. A brown pelican had taken notice of the egret and it’s fish and was rapidly closing in from behind. When the pelican arrived, the shocked and surprised egret jumped away from the pelican and also jumped right out of my frame. I ended up clipping the top of it’s head and wings in the third photo.
The egret popped up it’s head feathers, and threw up it’s wings in excitement over the whole event and quickly left the area with it’s prize intact!
How Many Birds?
I photographed this group flight of little shore birds as they zipped across the salt marsh this morning.
Can you count them?!
Leaving The Marsh
I initially spotted this great blue heron perched on a stump in the marsh pond yesterday just prior to sunset. As I brought up the camera to take a look at him he picked that moment to take off and leave the area. I grabbed this photo as he swooped by me, possibly on his way to the evening roost.
Pelican Doing A Bit Of Afternoon Fishing
Earlier this week I was watching a young brown pelican fishing in the salt marsh. The brown pelicans fish by plunging themselves head first into the water from flight, or by just plunging their head into the water from where they float. It never fails to amaze me how large their huge mouth pouch expands as they filter out the water leaving just their captured meal to be swallowed.
New Month…New Alligators
I know what you all have been thinking…OK, Phil, the birds are nice enough, but where are the alligators?!
Since I know everyone has been missing the poor little alligators terribly, I went over to the swamp on this sunny morning to see if any were out enjoying the first day of February. There were indeed a few to be found, gliding about and just in general soaking up a little sun.
What better way to start off a new month then a visit with some of our good friends in the swamp?!
January Flights
In keeping with the tradition I started several months ago, I’m posting some various flight photos for the month of January that have not been previously posted. This is the first time these have seen the light of day anywhere.
Bald Eagle
Black-bellied Plover
Brown Pelican
Egret
Great Blue Heron
Ibis
Snowy Egret
A Slight Disagreement
Yesterday afternoon these two great egrets had a bit of a disagreement over who owns the hot fishing spot in the salt marsh.
The argument quickly escalated into an airborne display of egret supremacy. Although the initial winner seemed to be the one who grabbed the other egret in a firm beak lock, they both stayed in the general area and continued on with their day of fishing. But this is typical of the egrets and herons, they frequently mix a little fighting in with their fishing…it’s all part of a day in the marsh.
Ibis In The Afternoon
This afternoon we were watching a couple of white ibis fishing in the salt marsh during low tide. They were picking out little minnows, glass shrimp, and these tiny transparent eels. I suppose if the ibis eats enough of this seafood combo, it gets full, but in any case this one seemed quite pleased with it’s little snack!
Phil Lanoue Photography 