The Dance

This afternoon, I had the privilege to be in the audience of perhaps one of the most beautiful dance recitals in the world. Sometimes breathtaking things happen right in front of our eyes and if we are wise enough, we realize that we are seeing something extraordinary. Today's dance was just that.. extraordinary! The tide was out..way out..leaving the Bayou relatively devoid of water. The tidepools that were remaining were simply alive with trapped fish and minnows. This made for a perfect feeding opportunity for the shore birds. I was watching as the herons, gulls, kingfishers and egrets caught their fill. Happy birds! Or were they so happy. Two of them bobbed and weaved around each other like two performers on a stage. The graceful leaps and wing flapping caused quite a stir in the marshes. At first, I thought there was a squabble over a mullet or shrimp, but then it occurred to me that this was not fight. This was a dance..a lovely dance. These two were doing a ritualistic dance..a mating dance. Then I started thinking .."It is not the season for this!" But they continued to dance until suddenly the entire group became startled and in unison vaulted into the air. After making a large circle around the Bayou, they settled back down but this time just out of my range of view. Curious as to why this dance took place in the Fall instead of the nesting season of early Spring, I came in to do a bit of research. I found that the Snowy Egret is monogamous. They tend to choose a mate and stay together with both raising the young. I did not know this but it does explain the dance of the egrets. These were young egrets, perhaps just a bit over a year old, so next Spring, I will have to look for an nest of blue eggs in a tree over the Bayou. I also learned that years ago these beautiful birds were almost hunted to extinction for their plumage. Now since laws were passed to protect them, they have made a comeback. Also..one cool, little fact about the Snowy Egret is that it has jet black legs that end in bright yellow feet!