Phil Lanoue Photography

Caught Lurking

So here’s poor little snowball trying to enjoy a nice quiet evening of fishing in the salt marsh among the oyster beds. But then who do we see lurking there in the background?!? Of course it’s our resident sneak Mr. A that, as usual, feels compelled to stick his big nose in everywhere.

The snowy was undeterred however, and simply continued on with his business of catching dinner. The alligator was actually more interested in fish then fowl anyway, and soon he was slowly gliding off into the sunset.

Well…It Started Out Quietly Enough…

Yesterday evening there was one large alligator feeding in a side cove section of the marsh and basically taking the entire area as his own territory, acting like he owned the place. And he did own the place until another, slightly larger alligator came in to impose his own agenda.

At first they were in a stare down and complete stand off and I was not at all sure where this was headed. I had the camera set for a slow shutter speed and small lens opening to get both those large heads in focus when suddenly the new arrival burst up out of the water! The movement was so fast it blurred my initial photos and the first gator jumped clear out of my frame!

The attacker lunged at the previous occupant of the fishing hole and sent him under water in full panic and self defense mode. This did not deter the aggressor who proceeded to crash through and across the water in full pursuit. Luckily I thought quickly enough to change camera settings so that I would be able to catch the action that was happening just a short distance from my location at the edge of the marsh.

It was quite a thrilling sight and rather humbling experience to have the privilege to watch this wild aspect of nature unfold in front of my eyes.

Determined Hunter

Last week I was watching this green heron patiently fishing at the edge of the marsh pond. Green herons are very determined and alert little birds. They constantly scan just below the surface of the shallow water, walking back and forth until suddenly they spot a fish.

Once a fish is seen, it’s quite likely to become a quick meal for this skillful hunter.

Drama In The Marsh

Yesterday afternoon these two egrets surprised me by engaging in some particularly serious fighting in the marsh. One aggressive egret swooped in and jumped on the other, trying to stand on it’s back and shove the poor guy under the water. To make matters worse, there was an alligator gliding through the water right behind them as this battle was taking place! Lucky for the egrets, the gator ignored the action and just kept right on going on his merry way.

If you look closely at shots five and six, you may be able to see yet another young alligator in the lower left that comes in to investigate the situation. Although this caused the egrets even further agitation, finally they were able to separate and could now safely go on about their business.

Feathers and egos were clearly quite ruffled though!

Leaving So Soon?

A pair of black-necked stilts were feeding in the marsh pond this afternoon when one decided to suddenly take off and leave his friend behind.

I always enjoy seeing these impossible birds with their long, gangly, bubble gum pink legs, bobble heads, and high squeaky voices!

Morning Meal

Wood stork fishing in the salt marsh first thing in the morning comes up with a nice fish for breakfast! Considering they are very large birds, wood storks seem to most often catch and eat tiny fish and various small marine crustaceans. So it was interesting to see what our pal Woody snagged from the marsh on his early hunt.

Thunder Storms Moving Through

Earlier this evening we had some thunder storms move along the coast and across the marsh area.

The first one is looking north across the salt marsh, and the second shot was taken with a fisheye lens and is looking south across the marsh pond.

And just in case anyone is thinking that I didn’t shoot any wildlife today… there is an egret in the marsh in the first photo, and those two dark dots in the lower left of the second photo are alligator heads. 🙂

Graceful Exit

Egrets can be funny. Sometimes several can get along just fine in a group, other times one will fly clear across the marsh just to chase off another. In this case we have a pair that started out being friendly enough, but that good will was not to last. One decided the other had to go, and go immediately.

But it was the way the chase and the retreat turned out that intrigued me. It seems they were both determined to look good during the altercation, as if it was a routine that had been planned in advance and fully choreographed.

Like I said…funny birds.