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.
“I Can’t Believe I Ate The Whole Thing!”
I mentioned earlier in the week that I had some file photos of a great blue heron that caught a HUGE eel. Some regular viewers here indicated that they wanted to see those pics so I figured today was a good day to post them. These were taken back in October 2010.
The heron had grabbed an eel the size of a baseball bat out of the salt marsh during low tide. I watched it battle with the eel for close to an hour never knowing if it would really try to swallow this huge eel or end up leaving it. Many times I thought the bird had given up, it appeared to be exhausted, but he clearly wanted that eel very badly. The problem with swallowing something this large was the sheer weight of the eel. Since the birds don’t have any teeth, each time he tried to bring the eel up to get it position to swallow, the eel’s weight would cause it to slip and drop right back down into the mud.
What was amusing was the other bird spectators that would show up at various times to witness the event in apparent amazement. Assorted ibis, egrets and an extremely curious wood stork all stopped by to watch. Eventually the blue heron took the eel back into the marsh grass for privacy where I could barely see it, but to my astonishment he finally managed to swallow the eel down!
“Hey Watch This!”
Last week we were watching some brown pelicans fishing in the marsh pond. This one guy seemed to be showing off his flight technique to his friend who was watching attentively in the background. The flight instruction must have been successful because soon they were both flying, diving, and splashing around for fish.
“Where’s An Eagle?!”
Woody’s Big Lunch
Yesterday afternoon we saw a wood stork snag a nice size fish out of the salt marsh. This is somewhat unusual, we don’t normally see them eating large fish. Usually they catch and eat much smaller fish, the occasional eel, shrimp and other marine crustaceans. Woody, however, really really wanted this catch and after a four minute struggle to get it down, he appeared quite pleased with himself! I also thought it might be nice to give a little screen time to one of our little pals in the swamp who was enjoying some afternoon sun yesterday as well.
Swamp Gators
Yesterday afternoon we decided to go have a look at the swamp to see if anybody was out and about enjoying a warm sunny day. We saw this one guy relaxing on a bank soaking up some rays, although laying down with your face in the water doesn’t seem like the most comfortable way to spend your day…but what do we know? A bit farther down we saw this young alligator keeping a low profile in the duckweed. We thought he had kind of a big nose, but figured there was no point in mentioning it to him. Even though alligator season is mostly winding down for us here along the South Carolina coast, a sunny day can still bring out a few of our pals who are seeking a bit of warmth.
Successful Fishing In The Salt Marsh
Earlier today we were watching a great blue heron as he tried to perfect his fishing technique in the salt marsh at low tide. As the tide starts rising it brings in lots of fish and he was very definitely interested in catching some. He would watch the water…look for fish…then strike the water…and come up “empty beaked”. But he was a very determined bird, and after missing ten or twelve times, he finally got his rhythm down and then he was plucking them out right and left! I decided to capture his successful fishing technique on video so I hope you enjoy this 26 second lesson on “Successful Fishing In The Salt Marsh” !
Show Off
This great blue heron seemed to be quite proud of his impressive wing span as he landed in the marsh pond this morning. I thought he looked quite distinguished…what do you think?!
Down The Hatch!
This morning we watched several brown pelicans fishing in the marsh pond. They can be very entertaining to watch. When they fish, a pelican hits the water with a huge splash and looks like it was just tossed out of a moving vehicle. But their fishing style works quite well for them as you can see…down the hatch goes the fish for a nice morning snack!
Phil Lanoue Photography 