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.
Working For Your Breakfast
It’s a rough morning when you have to struggle with your own breakfast.
This egret plucked a fresh and feisty eel out of the salt marsh this morning and it took him a good ten minutes to wrangle the wriggling snack down. But the hard work paid off and he did eventually manage just fine.
Although, I expect that eel has to be alive for a little while anyway in the bird’s stomach which must be an odd feeling.
Sunset Cruise
Yesterday evening I grabbed a shot of this great blue heron as he was flying out across the marsh.
I was shooting directly into the warm setting sunlight which was backlighting the heron as he glided through.
Great Blue Heron and Friend
A blue heron watches alertly as an alligator glides along slowly in the background at the salt marsh this evening.
The gator had no interest in the bird at all, he had fresh blue crab on his mind and we saw him catch and crunch down a tasty crab.
I never saw the heron catch a single fish, guess he was too busy keeping an eye on his alligator buddy.
“Don’t Bother Me Pal, Go after The Other Guy”
As a young alligator begins to creep up on the fishing egret, the bird initially ignores the gator until it starts to glide in a bit closer.
Keep in mind the egret is fully capable of flying off and leaving the area, but chooses not to at this point. Instead, the egret appears to redirect the alligator’s attention over to his nearby friend who clearly has no idea what is going on.
That plan seems to work perfectly as the gator turns and veers off toward the other unsuspecting egret.
Of course nothing really happens and all egrets are just fine because the alligator was diverted once again by a passing fish which was more than likely his intended prey of choice that morning to begin with.
It never fails to amaze me how the two species can actively feed in a close proximity to one another with (as usual) only the fish coming out on the losing end of the whole deal.
That ‘Uh Oh’ Moment
This fish seems to be quite aware it is having a bad day which is just about to get much worse.
An egret fishing in the salt marsh earlier this week caught this guy, sending our poor little friend in the sea to his untimely demise.
Once that moment hits, it has to be a bad feeling.
In The Muck
With the heat wave we have been experiencing this week, the widgeon grass in the marsh has been exploding and bringing along with it some sort of yellow pond gunk.
This alligator doesn’t look particularly happy to have found himself surrounded by this unsightly mess. But of course. it was his idea to swim into it in the first place. Sure, there may be some fish swimming just under the surface of the weeds, but maybe it’s not worth the extra effort and aggravation.
Well Someone Is Cranky In The Morning
Early this morning there were some various egrets feeding in the salt marsh among the oyster beds. Suddenly this one snowy came swooping in and felt compelled to immediately chase off his friend.
Snowys are like that…they don’t need a specific reason to create a huge fuss, just the mere presence of another snowy is all it takes for a skirmish to break out.
It all ends just as quickly as it starts though, soon all is forgiven and forgotten. Well, until the next time.
Summer Storm
I was over at the marsh this afternoon checking out some of the usual egrets, herons, wood storks and alligators, when I looked up and saw these ominous clouds rapidly approaching from the north and west.
Once the thunder and lightning started I knew a thunderstorm was moving in.
Since I only had the telephoto with me on the regular camera, I whipped out the phone just for a couple of quick grab shots of the developing darkness.
The first picture is looking north across the salt marsh and, as the main storm clouds advanced east, I quickly headed over to the beach where I took the second shot of the storm heading out across the ocean.
Interestingly, we never got a single drop of rain. Often the ocean breeze will beat back an approaching storm and apparently, despite some lightning and thunder, that’s what happened here.
I’ll be back tomorrow with the usual wildlife photos. 🙂
Phil Lanoue Photography 