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.
Hoodie
I always love seeing the hooded mergansers, and this one from yesterday afternoon in the salt marsh was no exception.
The male of the species is especially striking with his white head crest, and I always find them to be entertaining and often comical. They male hoodie reminds me of some cartoon version of what a duck from another planet might look like. 🙂
Keeping A Watchful Eye
This morning I found one of our local bald eagles sitting in a pine tree along the edge of the salt marsh. I don’t know if it’s the same duck hunter from yesterday, but it could be.
Now that they have one or two chicks, food for the babies is not the only concern for the eagle parents. Watching out for predators or other birds which they may determine are invaders to their territory is also a full time job.
After keeping a close eye on this one section of the marsh area, the eagle left the tree and doing an airborne reconnaissance, it flew across to the other side where it sat in another tree and kept watch there for a bit. It soon left that tree as well and patrolled further along the far edge which is a tactic that will hopefully allow for views from every possible direction. Good safety procedures are certainly being followed by the new parents.
Baby Food
It seems that our local pair of mated bald eagles have one if not two chicks now in their nest at the far edge of the salt marsh.
One sign of new mouths to feed is the increased hunting action we have seen taking place around the area.
This afternoon I saw one of the eagles swoop down and hit the water and it sat there for a few seconds and I knew it was trying to get something secured in it’s talons. The eagle suddenly burst up out of the water with a fresh caught duck, and I suspect our unfortunate victim was a ruddy duck.
The eagle flew off toward the nest with baby’s evening meal and I couldn’t believe it when the eagle looked right back at the duck and stared into it’s eyes as the poor little guy was being carried away.
Radar And Friend
One day last week our good buddy Radar was out fishing in the salt marsh with his new little snowy egret friend.
After snowball left the area, Radar continued on patrolling the water around the oyster beds making sure everything was properly in order.
Gotta Go
Last week this adult brown pelican made a quick departure from the salt marsh after a heavy round of fishing.
Wood Stork Evening Flight
Wood stork wings tips generally appear black. But if the sunlight hits them just right, such as in this early evening flight across the salt marsh, their wing tip feathers can almost glow with a green iridescence.
Dragon In His Lair
Well actually it’s more like the cute alligator laying around on his bed of nice soft tamped down weeds.
I took a walk over to the swamp this afternoon but things looked fairly quiet. The usual active assortment of coots, moorhens, and grebes were hard at work but otherwise not much going on.
I took this overall view of one section of the swamp with my phone because I didn’t have a wide lens with me. Then, down just a bit further, something caught my eye and I stopped to peer through the reeds. Although he thought he was well hidden, I was able to spot our alligator friend relaxing in the mid day sun. He lifted his head up and took a look at me but was not tremendously impressed so he went back to napping.
Pleasant enough day for everyone it seemed, with not a care in the world.
King Of The Mountain
Well in this case, for a young white ibis, it’s more like king of the oyster beds. At least until the adults start showing up, then it’s time to leave and go hang out with the rest of the kids.
Phil Lanoue Photography 