Phil Lanoue Photography

Light Breakfast

I spotted this GBH spiffing himself up in the marsh this morning and thought maybe he already had breakfast and was doing a little after meal clean up.

But he quickly went right back at it, and about two minutes later had snagged a light continental breakfast. Our little fishie friend, however, did not seem at all pleased with how his morning was going.

“Where Did You Come From?”

When this egret suddenly popped up right in front of me from the edge of the marsh and surprised me, I think we were both asking the same question!

The Look

There is that certain look an alligator can get that makes you glad he is not coming after you…

Nice Catch!

This past weekend I was watching an anhinga fishing in the marsh pond area.

This guy was quite talented, I saw him catch a few fish, toss them up and make a few nice follow up catches.

This bird could play center field for the NY Yankees!

Optical Illusion?

Here is a photo I took this afternoon of an egret fishing.

Look closely at the fish’s face. At a quick first glance, do you see what appears to be a fish face kind of looking down with one red eye and one black eye and the bright highlighted spots being it’s mouth?

Or… do you see a face looking up with that red spot being the fish’s mouth and that black eye is it’s left eye with a tiny portion of it’s right eye appearing at the top?

Do you see both scenes? Do you need to refocus your eyes to see both? Which did you see first?

The second scenario is the correct one, what initially may have appeared to be a red right eye is actually the fish’s open mouth. Who saw that right off from the start? 🙂

I Have Arrived

Everyone knows how great blue herons have a way of making a huge production out of just about anything they do. no matter how routine it may be.

They often feel compelled to loudly announce their comings and goings, and sometimes have to let the whole world know even when they are just standing around.

On an earlier occasion, when this GBH flew in from the back edge of the marsh and proceeded to land right in front of us, it sure looked like he wanted it to be a dramatic entrance. And of course, as usual, it was.

Quick Treat

Earlier this week I was watching a tricolored heron fishing in the salt marsh among the oyster beds.

He popped back a few of these nice tasty little treats. Such a smart, energetic little heron!

Only Room for One

As soon as I arrived at the salt marsh this morning the first thing I saw was an apparent stand off between these two young alligators.

They faced each other down for a brief instant, but things escalated quickly when the one on the left lunged out and chased off his competitor. Once that task was accomplished, the victorious warrior was able to lay there with a smug look on his proud face.

The vanquished intruder floated off meekly not to be seen again for the rest of the morning, but there really is plenty of room for everybody.

Our brave gladiator did pick up a little friend later on however. A small plover took a liking to him and followed along the edge of the marsh for a while as the alligator scooped up some hard earned breakfast.