Phil Lanoue Photography

Do Not Disturb

Our good buddy Mr. A hung out a Do Not Disturb sign in the marsh earlier this week. He was in such a deep sleep tucked down in the comfort of the soft widgeon grass with his eyes all tightly shut…not even his nose was out of the water. He would wake briefly every so often just to pop up his nostrils for a quick breath, then right back down again.

We should all get a nice pleasant, restful sleep like this guy, right?!?

At one point a tricolored heron dropped in nearby for a visit, but he had no plans to wake a sleeping giant. The tri probably saw the sign too. 🙂

Well That One Must Have Tickled

Yesterday afternoon a great blue heron plucked himself a nice fish snack out of the salt marsh, but right after swallowing his treat he got all fluffed up.
I expect that fish was still wriggling on the way down and likely tickled a bit.

Oh well, it still counts and since the fishing didn’t look too great out there, I’m sure the heron was happy to have snagged even a tickler!

Stuff From Today

Spent some time over at the marsh this afternoon. Not a lot going on but, there was an appearance by our good buddy Mr. A along with a select few of his friends. Unfortunately, they were not interested in doing anything very exciting. Ok, in truth, they weren’t interesting in doing anything period. All I saw was a lot of dozing in the sun and a little half hearted slow motion swimming.

The first photo is a rare shot from today of our pal with his eyes open! Wow! That was (kind of) exciting!

In between the alligator action, I was watching this cute little sora rail flittering about back and forth searching for yummy treats. I love the white ‘chicken tail’!

A bit later, one of Mr. A’s friends was less than concerned about an egret that decided to fish in ‘his’ area. I think that egret could have safely walked across the sleepy alligator’s back with zero repercussions.

Before leaving, I was treated to the sight of this swallow tail kite gliding above the trees along the edge of the marsh. Always love to see these amazing birds fly so effortlessly, with hardly a flap of those wings. I only wish this bird would have flown in a little closer. I requested a circle back with a close in fly-by but was ignored. Oh well, maybe next time.

He Had Comments

I stopped over to the marsh briefly this afternoon and quickly noticed our pal here climbing up out of the water after picking out his spot for a nice afternoon snooze.

But surprisingly, he had a few choice remarks to make prior to settling in for the day. First he puffed out his throat and bellowed loudly. Then he glared over at me and had a few other things to say. I’m sure he was just being friendly and wanted to give a warm greeting. 🙂

Floating Curiously

An alligator was floating curiously along the marsh pond on a recent evening. Or… was he curiously floating?

Humm, I’m not sure, but he did look like he had something important on his mind and also was likely up to something. Of course they almost always look like they are up to something. 🙂

“You Ready? Watch This!”

A cormorant was splashing around in the salt marsh this morning before suddenly whipping himself around and blasting off out of the water.

Reminded me of a kid playing in a pool that wants you to watch him doing something ‘exciting’. 🙂

The Little Guys Were Out

There is a certain side area of the marsh pond where most of the little alligators (4 footers) kind of hang out. It’s a good strategy as it’s always best to keep clear of the big guys who often feel the need to show some muscle and push around the newcomers. It’s nothing personal, they just have to establish who’s boss around here.

Most of the youngsters are just kind of laying around in the sun and doing a minimal bit of exploring. But at least one found some tasty treat to crunch down which is a good move. You have to eat well if you hope to some day grow up to be head gator in charge.