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.
Spoonbills In The Afternoon
Here are a few spoonie shots from yesterday afternoon in the salt marsh.
In the last photo you can see a group of wood storks feeding in the background.
It was a busy day out there too. We had black skimmers, a couple of alligators, assorted egrets, ibis, and herons, and naturally Radar was there to oversee it all. I’ll have to post some shots of our head egret in charge soon, he is quite the character!
Big Breakfast
Yesterday morning this anhinga nabbed herself a nice size fish for breakfast. She might be able to take the rest of the day off from fishing after this one!
Morning Snacks
This cormorant was having a fun time fishing in the salt marsh this morning. I say fun because there were so many fish jumping out there he probably didn’t even have to try very hard to catch one.
Egrets, spoonbills, and anhingas were having a good time out there this morning as well!
Just Looking
A spoonbill feeding in the salt marsh this morning had a curious observer tagging along for a short while.
The spoonie just continued on about his business and the alligator soon got bored and floated off to find something more interesting.
As Soon As They Fluff Up…You Know…
Snowy Egrets spend a large percentage of their time fussing and squabbling with one another. The tip off to the start of an ‘incident’ by an agitated snowy is when it suddenly gets all fluffed up.
So when I saw this one beginning to get his wings and feathers all in an uproar I knew the fight was on. Sure enough, snowball quickly moved in on his friend and quickly chased off the unsuspecting and innocent intruder.
So it goes in snowy egret world, they just can’t help themselves…
Morning In The Marsh
A bit of a grey, cloudy morning today in the marsh but there was some activity going on.
As usual the alligators felt they needed to be the stars of the show. There had to be ten or more all going about their business which mostly consisted of hunting for breakfast, and a few got up out of the water and took a look around.
One small gator looked on from the shallow water as a great blue heron patrolled his area of the salt marsh.
An egret seemed very interested in watching a spoonbill feed. How odd the spoonies must appear to egrets, plus they fish much differently.
One large alligator popped just his head up to survey the scene. Everything looked Ok so he soon went back under.
An anhinga was quite successful at catching it’s morning meal, I saw it come up with a couple of nice fish.
And I thought I would end this post with a look at some of the lovely pink flowers that adorn the edge of the marsh pond area. 🙂
Incoming Threat?!
This past week I saw a large group of assorted birds suddenly burst up out of the water in a panic and fly off in 50 different directions. A quick scan of the overhead sky revealed the reason. A bald eagle had come rapidly swooping in over the marsh and the smaller wading birds were taking no chances. Although it would be rare for an eagle to attempt to take one of these birds, they will still often instinctively flee at the first glimpse of an incoming large raptor.
From the look on it’s face, this bald eagle was clearly on a mission. So if that’s the impression I got, I’m sure the other birds concluded it would be wise to immediately vacate the area, just to be sure.
Nothing To Worry About Here
This past week I was watching a spoonbill feeding in the salt marsh when it looked like he suddenly got the feeling he should turn around look behind him.
The spoonie saw the alligator creeping up but concluded it was nothing to get overly concerned about so he went right back to fishing as the young gator glided on by….
Phil Lanoue Photography 