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.
Big Fishing and Flying Day
The same day that we saw the egret struggling with a flounder, we also saw other egrets come flying in and doing some fishing of their own.
One caught a large mullet but then dropped the fish in the mud. Nine times out of ten we would see a bird bring the fish back over to the water and rinse it off. Many egrets and herons don’t like swallowing a lot of mud with their fish, so a quick wash was expected.
Not this guy however, perhaps he didn’t want to risk losing the fish if he dipped it into the water, but in any case it got gulped right down mud and all!
The Great Fluff Up Continues!
The competition for fluffiest marsh bird continues on with yet another snowy egret putting on a fancy display.
The great blue heron from yesterday was a fierce competitor but little snowball is rapidly closing in on winning the title.
Too bad we didn’t have an alligator out there to judge the event, that would really raise the stakes!
All The Rage
Well…getting all fluffed up seemed to be all the rage in the salt marsh yesterday. Besides our little white snowy friends, this great blue heron felt the need to let it all hang out!
It was quite the exhibition and we were all duly impressed.
“What Are You Doing?!?”
This afternoon there were a few snowy egrets going about their business in the salt marsh. At one point a snowy sat still and quietly watched as his friend started going a little wacky and getting fluffed up and all in a twist. Finally he couldn’t take it anymore and yelled over to try to find out what exactly was going on!
Of course the comments were completely ignored by the fluffy snowball, so apparently the incident remains unanswered and unresolved.
Diving For Dinner
Yesterday there were a few brown pelicans fishing in the salt marsh in water that, due to low tide, was more shallow than they’re accustomed to. The pelicans are able to alter their fishing style so that instead of the usual almost vertical dive from above, they glide along in the water and utilize kind of a hop and dive technique.
That worked out fine for this big guy here who scored himself a nice fish that quickly went from being trapped in that huge pouch to down the gullet.
Fresh Flounder For Dinner… Almost
This afternoon and egret plucked himself a nice fresh flounder out of the salt marsh during low tide. The egret struggled with the oddly shaped fish for almost ten minutes before bringing it back into the reeds and dropping it in the mud.
The egret finally decided there was no way he could swallow the flounder the way he would a more streamlined fish, and abandoned it despite all the effort.
A bit later I saw this same egret snacking on some tiny minnows and shrimp and I know leaving his prize catch had to hurt…
“Mind If I Pass Through?”
A great blue heron watches from the sidelines as an egret flies by in front of him over at the salt marsh this afternoon.
Another Hard Day At Work
Say what you will about the pelicans…they may be a bit goofy looking but I have to admit they work hard. There were a couple out this afternoon flying all over the salt marsh area hunting for a lunch.
I can always tell a pelican is serious about fishing when I see one come gliding in, then go into a sort of hover mode before finally diving down for (hopefully) the catch!
Right after that the big guy is off again to repeat the whole process again in another location.
Before I left I saw this one pelican taking a break from work. It came up out of the marsh and sat down along the edge to dry off and enjoy a well deserved rest.
Phil Lanoue Photography 