Phil Lanoue Photography

The One That Got Away

This tricolored heron was doing some evening fishing in the salt marsh recently when a fish he had been stalking swam off to escape it’s frightful demise. You can see the ripples in the water made by the lucky fish as it made a quick exit. Those ripples also give kind of a melting look to the heron’e eye.

Who’s Watching Who?

Monday afternoon I was watching this egret fishing along the edge of the marsh pond when an alligator came floating into the scene.

Now…we had the egret watching the gator…the gator watching the egret…and me watching them both…

We all ended up getting along just fine though, I never jumped in and bothered either one of them!

Jump Off

Here is our recent spoonbill visitor jumping off from out of the salt marsh on one of the last sightings I had of him. We haven’t seen the spoonie for over a week now and it’s likely he’s left the area. Typically we get some pink arrivals at the end of June or early July, but we remain hopeful that this very brightly colored bird will return even sooner.

Looking Back

This Forster’s Tern takes one look back as he zips off across the salt marsh as evening approaches. Forster’s Terns are super fast and erratic flyers, and I can go dizzy trying to follow them as they swoop and dive for small fish! This adult also has his orange breeding bill color.

Stilts Are Back

A few days ago we once again had a visit in our area from this lovely pair of Black-necked Stilts. I really enjoy seeing these long legged beauties traverse the shallow water of the marsh in search of tiny fish and other tasty marine crustaceans.

Sunset Flight

This past week I saw this egret flying across the marsh pond which was lit by setting sunlight.

And of course the scene wouldn’t be complete without ‘you know who’ gliding by in the background…

Little Greenie

Earlier this week I was watching this green heron fishing in the salt marsh. These little guys are such intense and determined stalkers of their prey which includes small fish, shrimp, and other aquatic species.

Although relatively small in size, the green herons have considerable appeal due to their brightly colored plumage and I always enjoy seeing one in action.

Now It’s The GBH’s Turn!

Earlier this week we had the great egret being annoyed by the alligators while he was trying to fish. Last night however, it was the great blue heron that had to deal with a pesky pair of gators that were patrolling around in the salt marsh in the same area the heron wanted to fish.

At first these two alligators were kind of teamed up as they glided around in the marsh in search of some tasty fish or crabs. But eventually they floated off in different directions but never traveled far from the same general area where the heron was already set up for the evening. So of course this totally threw the bird off his game, as he couldn’t really concentrate on fishing with the dynamic duo constantly circling back into the fishing hole. I never saw the blue heron catch a single fish. There were fish all over and he saw them, but every time he tried to concentrate on catching one, in comes Mr. Alligator once again to spoil the whole situation.

To make matters worse, the alligators were none too pleased either. The tide started coming in very fast and soon the water was too deep for them to effectively fish in the way they are most successful.

This was not at all an ideal situation for the heron, trying to fish in the same water as unhappy alligators. But… like the egret from earlier, this heron never got completely intimidated and never left his post, he was still there as it got dark. Of course the alligators were still out there as well, lurking somewhere in the dark water…