Phil Lanoue Photography

Spoonie And Snowball

This past weekend our surprise pink April visitor was out busily working the salt marsh at low tide. Then at one point he also had a friend join him when a snowy egret decided that the spoonbill must be on to some good fishing. Snowball quickly got with the program and when he spotted a small fish, he blew right past spoonie kicking up water as he marched himself along the marsh!

Sometimes It’s Best Not To Complain Too Much

Yesterday afternoon this egret was fishing in the marsh pond, but he wasn’t alone. One of our resident alligators was also looking for fish in the same area, which annoyed the egret tremendously. The bird decided to loudly let the alligator know how he felt about the intrusion and the alligator responded by lifting up his head and letting the egret know who was really in charge around here.

But to make matters even worse for the egret, the gator called over a few of his friends just in case any further discussion was required. At one point there were five alligators surrounding the bird but I couldn’t fit them all in the picture.

However…if you think this intimidated the egret into leaving you would be incorrect. This bird quite possibly might have more nerve then sense because he never left the area, he just kept right on fishing. Surprisingly, this tactic ended up being ultimately successful as the alligators eventually moved away and left him alone to continue fishing.

This scene was 100% back lit so I elected to go with a semi silhouette look on the exposures, not much else I could do.

Stilts

Yesterday afternoon we had a couple of Black-necked Stilts make a brief appearance in the marsh pond. I always love seeing these squeaky little guys with their bobble heads and long, gangly, bubble gum pink legs.

You can see how a stilt is much smaller then a great egret and of course a lazy young alligator had to be present on the scene as well.

It’s a treat to see these fun and interesting birds and we were happy they decided to drop in for a visit!

The Baby

Well…earlier this afternoon a little baby alligator was out walking around and mostly staying out of the water.

The reason for that was because there were a good dozen or so of the big guys patrolling the edge of the marsh pond looking for food.

At times like these it’s best for anything small to just stay away from the water if at all possible!

Time To Leave

Our surprise pink April visitor spent a couple of hours feeding in the salt marsh among the oyster beds yesterday afternoon. Finally he was full and decided it was time to leave, so he jumped off and flew across the marsh reeds heading for a quiet spot back in the swamp for a pleasant nap.

Good Friends?!

Two alligators enjoying a relaxing morning out on a little island in the marsh pond this morning.

I thought it was so cute that they were holding hands, uh I mean paws, uh I mean feet… uh whatever. 🙂

Spoonbill Incoming!

Earlier today I was watching our surprise spoonbill visitor feeding in the salt marsh during low tide. At one point he decided to jump off and hop over to a nearby oyster bed to take care of business. This sent some poor unfortunate willet running away in a panic when he looked up and realized this huge pink thing was heading right for him!

After landing, spoonie seemed quite pleased with himself and appeared to get a laugh out of sending off the little shore bird.

Spoonbill!

Last night we had one spoonbill unexpectedly show up in the salt marsh. This is unprecedented for us to have one arrive in April! Normally I would start looking for spoonbills in late June or early July so it was a real treat to have this individual stop in for a welcome visit. This also appears to be an older bird that is in breeding color. Note the yellow around it’s face and shoulder patches as well as some yellow on it’s tail.

The first two photos are from last night just prior to sunset and the lighting conditions were unfortunately dark and gloomy. I went back this morning and we found him far back in the marsh so he stayed over night which was a good sign. I managed to get the three flight shots this morning as he flew across the marsh headed toward the swamp area.

The speculation right now is…could this be the return of Mr. Cranky?!? We think it’s possible since this is something that goofy spoonie would very possibly do. He was always kind of a loner and this spoonbill seemed very familiar with the entire marsh area, he knew exactly where to go at what times of the day, so he clearly had spent some considerable time here.

In any case I’m hoping that this one sticks around and it would be even better if more pink birds showed up. Although, if this Mr. Cranky he would probably be happier if no other spoonbills showed up!