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.
Wood Storks Get A Visitor
Yesterday afternoon the usual gaggle of wood storks had an unexpected and unusual visitor drop into their territory in the marsh pond.
An American White Pelican arrived and proceeded to swim back and forth in front of the wood stork lineup scooping up numerous fish.
It’s worthwhile to note the size difference between the two species. Wood storks are large birds but the white pelican makes them look medium sized at best, while the tricolored heron in the fourth photo looks tiny compared to our pelican friend.
As the afternoon went on… more arriving wood storks did not faze the pelican and at one point some of the wood storks even appeared to be showing the big guy some respect!
Hungry? I Think So
This alligator feeding in the salt marsh last week appeared quite purposeful in pursuit of it’s evening meal.
I suspect he was trying to gulp down some unfortunate fish, and I strongly suspect he was successful!
Odd Place To Perch
This past Saturday evening I arrived at the salt marsh to find our spoonie friend perched atop something sticking up out of the mud.
At first I thought he was just standing on an old skinny bit of stump, of which there are many out there. But…turned out he was standing on the antler of a deer skeleton!
The large buck died last Spring and it’s skeletal remains are partially visible still, but only at low tide.
Before Dinner Walk
Most everyone has heard of, or possibly taken, a pleasant after dinner walk. However… this past Saturday evening, an alligator decided to take a delightful little before dinner stroll to the salt marsh to grab a nice fresh seafood meal.
All I can say is, it works for me. If that’s what makes him happy, that’s what makes everybody happy. Well, everybody except the fish and crabs of course. 🙂
Spoonbill Has A Surprise Guest Drop In During Dinner
So last night the spoonie was still in the area and happily feeding in the salt marsh at low tide.
The next thing you know…up pops Mister You Know Who which, as you might imagine, completely spoils the fishing.
The spoonbill walked back and forth for a bit, stopping occasionally to asses the situation. He was also making these odd grunting sounds which we took to mean he was not tremendously pleased with having his dinner interrupted.
The alligator meanwhile was totally unimpressed with the pink bird’s vocal displeasure and simply floated along in his standard casual manner ignoring spoonie the entire time.
Pink Brightens Up A Dark Morning
Very early this morning it was gloomy with a light rain falling, but that didn’t stop our new pink arrival from making an appearance in the marsh.
In fact, he seemed to be enjoying himself! He pranced and preened for a while until finally taking off to go find a nice breakfast far out in the salt marsh.
It’s supposed to be a cloudy, rainy weekend but hopefully the spoonie will stick around until the weather improves.
Spoonbill Arrives! Finally…
After being disappointed all of last month making it the first July in five years that we had no spoonbills in the marsh, one finally showed up today! It was just the one, but we were thrilled to see our pink visitor back again to start off August, plus we have hopes that some of his friends may also arrive at any time.
When we first spotted the spoonie, he was in the back far edge of the pond hanging around with some tricolor herons, a snowy egret, and an alligator. He soon left and flew all the way across the marsh landing in a pine tree where he had a noon day nap.
After leaving the tree he went back down into the marsh where he posed for a few pictures, then took off again to join some wood storks that had gathered back in a far corner.
We may try going back this evening for low tide in the salt marsh to see if he goes there to feed. Otherwise, we hope he stays the night and that we can find him again tomorrow, hopefully with some pink friends!
Surprise Guest Appearance
Well the Snowy Egret Convention took place this morning in the marsh, but I’m not sure this was the wisest choice for a guest speaker.
Some of the attendees seemed more then a little surprised and possibly disappointed. Plus, I suspect that whoever was in charge of that portion of the event just might have some explaining to do!
Phil Lanoue Photography 