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.
It Starts And Ends With One
Late this afternoon we had some juvenile white ibis show up in the marsh area.
At first just one came in but he was quickly joined by two more of his friends. They mostly just stood around on one leg for a while before gradually walking away one by one. (they didn’t fly away…they walked)
Finally we had one lone young ibis remaining, and he slowly made his way toward me along the shallow water before heading farther out into the marsh with his friends.
All Fluffed Up And No Place To Go
The great blue heron’s flair for the dramatic is well known. The one thing a blue heron never wants to be is ignored.
They often make loud comments to announce their arrival or departure, or for apparently no reason at all, at least not to us.
Great blue herons seem to be quite fond of making any type of display possible, at any time they might choose. Earlier this week we saw this great blue get himself in a totally all fluffed up state for reasons, once again, unknown to us.
But as long as he’s having a good time who are we to argue or question the reason why?
Surprise Pop Up
Just as I was leaving this evening I saw a little mink pop out from among the rocks along the edge of the marsh. As soon as the mink spotted me he surprised me by running right toward me, it was almost like my cat bouncing into the room!
He quickly put on the breaks however, stopped, took another look at me, and headed back toward the rocks along the edge of the water.
I didn’t see the little guy again, and since it was getting dark I figured he was snuggling down into a cozy spot for the night.
Slight Disagreement
In a typical situation, a blue heron and a great egret will look for practically any excuse to squabble and start an argument.
Usually, as in the case here, it’s over who is the rightful owner of a particular fishing area.
It’s not even that it’s a terrific fishing spot worth fighting over, it’s just that one bird doesn’t want the other one there on principle.
This behavior has likely been going on for thousands of years and continues on to this day. Birds will be birds. 🙂
Heavy Cargo
I thought this brown pelican flying in low over the water looked like one of those huge transport planes bringing in tons of supplies.
But no, it’s just a juvie pelican going about his usual business, flying and fishing around his area of operations which is the marsh.
“Where Did Everybody Go?!?”
This ibis was among a small group fishing in the salt marsh when he suddenly looked up and realized he was alone. He hadn’t noticed that all his friends took off without saying anything.
So our lone ibis threw up his wings in surprise, took a bewildering look around, and jumped off to go look for his friends that had abandoned him.
Crashes And Splashes
When brown pelicans are fishing, they hit the water like they were just tossed out of a moving vehicle. Brown pelicans are not extremely graceful looking birds to begin with, and their fishing technique has to be hard on their faces as they continually crash into the water head first.
Here are a few pelicans in action as they crash their way around the marsh hunting for a fish dinner!
Dash Through The Reeds
The sky was a mostly grey and cloudy yesterday evening at the salt marsh. But just prior to sunset, and for only a few minutes, a bit of sun peaked through clouds long enough to illuminate the reeds in a nice warm light. At that moment a great blue heron made a quick cruise through the reeds and across the marsh on the way to his evening roost.
Phil Lanoue Photography 