Phil Lanoue Photography

“Where’s An Eagle?!”

A bird of prey such as a bald eagle flying overhead can set off an alarm and cause a panic among a group of birds wading in the marsh below.

Even though it is unlikely even an eagle would bother a large wader like this great egret, it’s always smart to take a look at what’s up there when the alarm goes off.

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!

Hacking Up A Hairball?!

Earlier this week I was watching a great blue heron fishing in the salt marsh. At one point he caught a fish, not a huge fish by any means, but one that I’m sure he was happy to have all the same. Then right after he swallowed it, the heron took a few steps in my direction and stopped. I thought he had a funny look on his face, but then when he puffed himself up, I was worried that something was wrong with him…maybe the fish didn’t go down properly or all the way. Suddenly, he leaned down over the water, opened his beak and looked just like a cat hacking up a hairball! I didn’t see anything come back up though, and after a few seconds he straightened right up and went back to business as usual. I watched him for a little while longer to make sure he was okay and he continued fishing as though nothing had happened at all.

Autumn Alligator

We haven’t seen any alligators in the past week since the temperatures here have begun to drop a bit. This isn’t unexpected at all and may, in fact, signal the end of alligator season until Spring. Even so, it’s still possible to see the occasional gator out and about during the Winter months. I even have a photo of an alligator in the snow that was taken during a rare South Carolina snowfall!

For now though, here’s one from last week that I thought I would share. And yes…for those of you sharp eyed viewers out there, it does indeed appear that one of his bird neighbors left a small deposit on our boy’s nose!