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.
Unwanted Attention
A great blue heron plucked out a nice size fish for himself at the marsh yesterday morning and that attracted the attention of several wood storks.
The storks were really hoping the heron would drop his fish, and were doing their best to make that happen, but big blue managed to keep and eat his prize!
Fun With Spoonbills!
Yesterday evening we had four spoonbills show up (finally) in the marsh area. So we had to go over this morning to see if they stayed through the night.
Initially we only saw the one. He seemed a bit overwhelmed at being surrounded by wood storks for most of the time, but he also made the best of the situation. At one point the lone spoonie decided to have a little fun and he picked up a lost wood stork feather and played around with that for a while.
Finally I spotted one of his buddies flying in from across the marsh, he did one slow circle then landed in to join his friend.
They were quite active and one even tried giving his spoonie pal a hard time by nipping at the tail feathers a bit.
Soon the last two came gliding in together and the entire crew was together again. Of course Mr. You Know Who had to get involved. Perhaps he remembers these guys from last summer and wanted to make they understand that he is in charge of the entire area. (well until a bigger alligator comes along)
When we it started to rain we left while the four pink friends appeared to be settling in for some grooming and a nice afternoon nap. Fun morning out there for sure!
Spoonbills Surprise Everybody
We had a few spoonbills show up in the marsh this evening which was a bit of a shock because we had practically given up on seeing any this summer.
Unfortunately they mostly stayed way back against the far edge of the pond area except for a brief visit to the salt marsh.
At one point it seemed an egret was as surprised as the rest of us when three spoonies came by interrupting his preening session. The egret gave them a look as if he was thinking…”what the heck are these goofy pink things?!”
In any case it was good seeing some of our pink visitors and hopefully they will decide to stick around for a while!
Dropping In On Friends
Yesterday evening this wood stork came swooping in from somewhere out in the salt marsh and made a dramatic entrance.
Of course, after all that, he just ended up standing around looking…well maybe ‘cute’ isn’t the exact best word, but you know. 😀
Bright Eyes
An egret heads out over the water while an alligator glides over to say hello.
The warm setting sunlight nicely lit both their eyes, and the entire marsh area this evening.
Crab For Lunch
Earlier this week we were watching as this alligator appeared to be stalking something in the marsh right around lunch time. Of course it’s always lunch time with these guys.
It was interesting to see the big guy acting all quiet and sneaky until he finally plunged through the water and came up with what he was after the whole time. Fresh crab! These blue crab are a real favorite of the alligators who seem to derive particular satisfaction from the extra crunch the crabs provide.
I instantly knew crab was going to be on the lunch menu as soon as our gator friend lifted up his head and started chewing. I could see the crab being systematically disassembled by the hungry boy with each opening of those large jaws.
As Mr. A was busy crunching, I was able to approach a bit closer knowing the alligator was interested only in his meal. Once the full crunch was completed you can see his throat expand to give the crab entrée room to slide down into his belly.
He also seemed to have a somewhat satisfied look on his face once lunch was over.
One other funny note though… crab was not the only item this boy had for lunch. Just prior to the crab hunt, a man nearby me had some cash that he was holding blow out of his hand and float down into the water where Mister A promptly ate $11 as an appetizer. 🙂
Heading Back
There must have been 120 wood storks out in the salt marsh today.
After a busy day of fishing small groups, as well as single individuals, started to head back to the trees for their afternoon roost.
They have kind of a rough looking face, but they’re quite interesting birds.
Snowball? Nope
Yesterday afternoon I saw what I thought was a fairly common snowy egret flying high across the marsh, and just for the heck of it I snapped off one quick shot. When I looked at the photo later I realized it was a juvenile little blue heron and not a snowy at all.
Little blues start off life as all white youngsters then gradually morph into “tweeners” with a patchwork of blue and white before eventually becoming the all blue (with a touch of maroon) adults that we more commonly see.
I don’t know where the little blues nest, but we see many more adults then we do these bright white juveniles.
Phil Lanoue Photography 