Hungry Visitors!

Finally the sun paid me a visit andwarmed my weary bones. I get so antsy being stuck inside when the weather insists on being contrary..I want to be outside! As soon as I saw Mr. Sun, I knew that I would be out in the gardens. There is always so much that needs to be done to prepare the plots for the Spring planting. I was told that I was rushing things a bit and perhaps I am, but I pulled the old mulch out from under the rose bushes. After a good helping of fertilizer, fresh mulch was hauled from the pile and scattered around the base of each bush. While all this was being done, some visitors stopped in for lunch! Three Doves, a Brown Thrasher and our ever-friendly Mockingbird worked the mulch beside me. I expected the Mockingbird since this one has no fear of me what-so-ever and the Doves were not a big surprise but the Thrasher is a skittish bird of sorts. It usually prefers to keep a healthy distance and will only enter the garden when there are no human monsters lurking near. Needless to say, I was elated! My new-found friend busily bobbed up and down in the mulch, pecking up any bug in sight. I loved to watch it tilt its head to one side then the other as it searched for insects..I suspect it was listening as well as looking for lunch. The Brown Thrasher is sometimes mistakenly called the "Brown Thrush". This is a combination of the names of two distinct birds..the Brown Thrasher and the Wood Thrush. While the Wood Thrush is also brown, it a much smaller bird. They stay more in the woods and rarely make a visit to the yard. My Brown Thrasher continued to work the garden while I was there and even let me get several nice pictures before heading back to the grape arbor.

An egret paid a visit to the shallows by the pier to get its lunch, also. I am always amazed at how white these birds are and how clean they can remain even when mucking around in the mud. This bayou mud can stick to anything and will stain anything..but not the egrets! Even its reflection in the water gleamed snowy white! The bull minnows in the tidepool were fair game, today! Lunch was easy to come by for this lucky egret!