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.
Nothing Here So It’s Time To Go
This past weekend I was watching this snowy egret fishing in the salt marsh. Well… he was fishing, but he wasn’t catching.
So after a few stabs at the water he decided to try his luck elsewhere and move on to hopefully more productive fishing grounds.
Done For The Day
A white ibis on a late evening flight back to his roost in the swamp.
We don’t call them “muddy ibis” by accident. This one still has marsh mud all over his face and feet!
Eagle Up A Tree
Yesterday afternoon I spotted this juvenile bald eagle sitting in a pine tree along side the salt marsh. He looked to be maybe a two year bird, no signs of getting any white on his head yet.
He sat around just taking in the sights for a while when suddenly an impossibly bold mockingbird decided it might be a fun idea to dive bomb the eagle. Although the young eagle was clearly unimpressed, if the mockingbird’s strategy was to try to make the eagle leave the pine tree, it worked!
Within a few seconds the juvenile bald eagle jumped off from his branch and flew away. As he left, he flew so close by in front of me I could not fit all of him in my lens.
These Two Only Have Eyes For Each Other
Yesterday afternoon we had 20-30 wood storks in the salt marsh feeding and flying around during low tide.
But this pair clearly stood out from the pack as they totally ignored the other storks and it became obvious they had a special connection. They were fishing together, they took time to carefully groom each other, and then they finally settled in for some quiet cuddle time.
Sometimes we say a wood stork has a face only a mother could love. Or…another wood stork. 🙂
They Are At It Again
On a recent afternoon in the salt marsh I was not at all surprised to see a pair of snowy egrets engaged in an altercation. As best as I can determine, snowys spend approx. 60% of their lives fussing and squabbling with one another. The remaining 40% will be divided among feeding, mating (I don’t know how they manage to stop fighting long enough to accomplish that), flying around and resting.
But if two snowy egrets find themselves in the same spot at the same time you can usually count on a fully fluffed up incident to occur.
It’s snowys being snowys, that’s what they do!
Don’t Call Me Crabby!!
For quite a while I have been posting photos of crabs being eaten by other animals (usually alligators) and it got to the point where I started to think of crabs as only being food for other species. But of course crabs themselves have to eat too, especially if they want to grow up to be big guys like this blue crab I found in the salt marsh earlier this month. He was snacking on all sorts of tiny marine life that were floating by his way.
I was watching him skitter along sideways in the shallow salt water and grab things in those large pincher claws and shove it all into his mouth. At this point it would have been cruel to see some gator or bird come along and try to make a meal of crabby, but not on this day.
Our crabby friend was the one doing all the snacking!
Early Evening Fishing In The Marsh
Last week I was watching this tricolored heron fishing in the marsh. Tricolors are patient and determined hunters. They will stalk an area for a long time until finally shooting out that long neck to grab a fish.
Sometimes all that work only gets the heron a tiny snack, but for them a large part of it seems to be the thrill of the hunt!
“So That’s Where You Pick To Dry Your Wings?!?”
This cormorant may not have chosen the *best* spot to stand around and dry off his wings. But other then one big mouth, no one seems to care much so I guess it’s working out OK for now.
Phil Lanoue Photography 