Phil Lanoue Photography

At The End Of The Day…

Last week we were at the marsh pond as the day was winding down, but we weren’t the only ones enjoying the sunset. This great blue heron, having concluded his fishing for the day, appeared to be contemplating the colorful sunset before finally heading off to roost for the night.

October Flights

Continuing in the tradition of showing various flight shots at the end of the month that haven’t been previously posted…here are some of October’s flight shots!

Bald Eagle

Belted Kingfisher

Great Egret

Great Blue Heron

Osprey

Snowy Egret

Tricolored Heron

Wood Stork

Surprise Visitor

Late Sunday evening as we were returning home from the marsh, we drove by one of the ponds behind our house and noticed something unusual. In among some Canada Geese that we see all the time, was this one white bird that stood out from the rest. Even though it was quite dark by then, I still had to jump out of the car and grab a quick photo. Bad light requiring high ISO got this rather grainy image of what turned out to be a Snow Goose hanging at the edge of the water with his Canada buddies. So yesterday afternoon I went back out hoping the Canada Geese and their new friend would still be around. They were, so I got a few pics of this handsome looking Snow Goose which is a rare treat for us!

Dried Flowers

One morning this past week I noticed that a lot of the wildflowers along the side of the marsh had begun to dry up and turn brown…I guess it’s just that time of year…

Happy Bird…Not So Happy Fish

Last week I was watching this great egret fish in the salt marsh. It seemed quite pleased to have plucked out a fish for dinner. The fish, on the other hand, did not look happy at all.

“Watch Your Step Woody…”

Last week we saw this wood stork step gingerly around our pal Mr. Gator who was relaxing in the marsh pond. Although Woody was smart to be cautious, he likely had little to fear from the alligator who was more interested in napping in the sun than looking for a meal!

Morning Alligators

This morning I decided to go over by the swamp to see if anything was going on. I wasn’t there five minutes when I saw this good ole’ boy sneaking his nose out from behind the weeds. After giving me a quick lookover and figuring I was ok, he went lumbering across a paved road that runs along one edge of the swamp and dropped into it. The second photo shows him after he settled down among the swamp muck. A bit further down in the swamp I discovered another alligator attempting to camouflage himself in the duckweed.

Sorry if my video camera work is a bit shaky…three cups of coffee can sometimes do that to me!

Nobody Likes A Muddy Fish

Yesterday morning we were watching a small group of white ibis fishing in the salt marsh at low tide. Normally, the ibis only catch and eat small fish, shrimp or other tiny marine crustaceans. But this one boy caught himself a nice size fish which would make an outstanding meal. However, after he took it out of the water and brought it on land to eat, he unfortunately dropped the fish into the mud. Well this is no good…no one wants to eat a muddy fish! So he brought it back over to the water to give it a quick rinse. Once that was accomplished, he proudly showed off his nice clean, bright, fish to his friends!