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.
“Mind If I Drop In?”
This past weekend we saw a few birds perched in a pine tree enjoying a pleasant evening.
Suddenly a wood stork decided to just drop in on an egret that had been sitting peacefully, and practically landed on the egret’s head!
The egret was clearly surprised by the unexpected arrival and apparently the wood stork did not pick out it’s landing area carefully as it seemed surprised to find this particular branch already occupied.
The wood stork danced around a bit trying to find a nice secure spot, while the egret who had no intention of leaving, simply waited for the stork to settle down.
The Last Of The Season…?
I thought it might be fun to post a few more photos from last week’s all too short appearance of a pair of Roseate Spoonbills!
These beautiful, unusual, and often entertaining birds are a rare treat for us so we try to capture as much of their visit as possible when the opportunity is present.
The pair stayed mostly together feeding in the salt marsh by sweeping their large spoon shaped bills rapidly through the water in search of food.
Small fish, shrimp and various marine crustaceans are on the menu as was an eel which we saw one of them pluck out and eat.
After considerable feeding, a bit of preening would take place then they would generally fly off to investigate a different area of the marsh.
We always attempt to get flight shots as the birds move about and often the last flight shot of the evening is the last we will see of the spoonie until (hopefully) next time!
You Never Know What May Come Creeping Out Of The Weeds!
Last night I was checking the area along the edge of the marsh pond when I saw this big fellow peeking his head out from the weeds.
Naturally I backed off and away, but when it started to walk out I decided to see if I could grab a few photos. I was a little surprised when it headed in my direction, so I quickly banged off several frames before retreating safely off to the side!
“Ok Guys, I Got Mine, I’m Out Of Here!”
Recently we were watching a group of great egrets fishing in the marsh pond. One of them caught a fish and decided it was likely wise to fly off and leave the area rather then risk loosing it to another egret.
So…not only did he leave with his catch, he snuck out behind his friends who were still busy trying to catch their own fish!
Green Heron At The Shrimp Buffet!
Last night just prior to sunset we were watching this Green Heron hunting at the edge of the salt marsh during low tide.
Normally we would expect to see a greenie to be on the prowl for fish and we did see this one catch a few fish, but fresh shrimp turned out to be the main course on this evening’s menu.
The heron must have plucked out at least a dozen shrimp in the time we were there watching. The action was to get even more interesting as the activity attracted several crabs to the water’s edge.
We could see the crabs lurking just under the green heron, presumably hoping the bird would lose one of the shrimp. At one point the crabs were chasing the bird along the marsh even making a grab at it’s feet in an attempt to distract the bird into dropping a tasty shrimp!
Great Egret At Sunset
A Great Egret flying above the marsh tonight silhouetted by the setting sun.
Alligator Fishing
Last night we were watching this alligator feeding in the marsh. Periodically it would lunge out and capture a large pocket of water in it’s mouth that the gator hoped would be full of small fish.
This would create a huge splash and often the gator could be seen gulping afterwards which meant it was successful on that attempt.
From the amount of fish we could see swirling and jumping all around it was clear that the alligator had plenty to eat, and it was taking advantage of the seafood menu!
Weekend Spoonbills
This past weekend we enjoyed watching two spoonbills feeding and preening in the salt marsh. It was mostly overcast conditions except for one brief moment when a spot of sun broke through the clouds and lit the spoonies with a nice warm sunset glow. As the tide came in they flew off to another section of the marsh and we followed. They obliged with just a few more photo opportunities until finally flying off to their night time roost.
Phil Lanoue Photography 