Phil Lanoue Photography

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.

Hey Pal, Nice Tail Feathers!

Bald eagle flying directly over my head on a recent afternoon had his tail nicely lit up by the high noon sunlight.

“I’m Coming, I’m Coming!”

A great blue heron heard his friend calling from the other side of the salt marsh this afternoon and rushed over to see what was going on.

Turns out there were three egrets that had dared to enter ‘their’ territory to do a little fishing. Also turned out that it wasn’t really worth chasing them off so the whole fuss was all for nothing.

Oh well, just another day in the marsh…

Not Sure I’m Too Happy About This Look

An osprey gave me a rather suspicious look as he was circling above the salt marsh this afternoon.

Maybe he was just happy to see me. Uh, no, probably not.

Nice Quiet Morning In The Swamp

I decided to check out the swamp in the morning earlier this week to see if anybody was out and about.

I did see our pal Mr. A relaxing back in among some weeds with his little friend snoozing behind him. After a short time, one more of their buddies went gliding by in the water.

Everyone seemed to be taking it easy, but they are starting to get hungry. 🙂

Tasty Little Treat

Earlier this week we had a tricolored heron picking around the dried reeds in the salt marsh looking for a snack.

Many of these tiny minnows were caught and consumed which, although small, will eventually fill up the cute little heron.

“There MUST Be Something Good To Eat In Here!”

Earlier this week our hungry alligator pal was slogging through the marsh mud at low tide in search of a snack. I’m not sure what he hoped or expected to find buried in the thick mud, but I never saw him come up with anything that looked worth eating.

Eventually the gator gave up and at the end I thought he had a bit of a sad, dejected look on his mud covered face and paws. But if we look on the bright side…mud is supposed to be good for the complexion and his hide sure does look spiffy! 🙂

Big Dinner For Mister Alligator

We had an alligator out feeding in the salt marsh during low tide this afternoon. I thought it was unusually early for them to be eating but I guess the relatively warm Winter and apparent early Spring must have jump started their appetites.

Since the tide was low, this clever gator managed to find a nice pool of water in which some mullet had found themselves landlocked and trapped.

Mr. A went back and forth and eventually separated one fish out from the herd and had it pushed practically out of the water at the edge of the small pool. That’s when our boy erupted and pounced on the hapless mullet snagging the fish in his powerful jaws.

Despite the struggles of the unfortunate victim, it’s fate was sealed. A few chomps by those white teeth and one swallow later the mullet was history and dinner. This was likely the big guy’s first meal in a while so I’m sure it was appreciated.