The Busy Morning

  It was rather chilly out on the pier this morning.  With the temperature in the upper thirties, I had to watch my step for fear of slipping on the frost-covered pier planks.  I was fully not expecting others to be out on the water but, to my surprise, the place was quite active.  The north wind had pushed the tide far out exposing the mudflats for some distance.  Those mudflats and the shallows were teeming with activity as all sorts of critters were hunting breakfast.

  A group of mottled ducks were the first that I noticed.  It seemed that they kept their heads under the water more than above.  They were shuffling the bottom to muddy the waters.  This allowed them to confuse the small mullet and bull minnows swimming there.   Along with the mottled ducks was a pair of hooded mergansers.  These, too, were busy feasting on the little fish.  I was surprised to see the two types of ducks mingling.  The hoodies are a much smaller type of duck than the mottleds but they had no problem working together to find their morning meal.  I watched  the ducks for a few moments before I noticed yet another critter joining the feeding frenzy.  A snowy egret flew in to the open diner.  This gorgeous bird stepped gingerly in the shallows and dipped its beak often.  It always came up with a tasty morsel!  Imagine my surprise when a tri-colored heron joined this motley crew!  This bird, too, caught its breakfast with ease.  The sight fully amazed me.  I was so impressed that each of these birds seemed oblivious to the fact that it was dining alongside of those different than itself.  The sole intent was to fill the belly on this cold morning.  But...I was being chilled to the bone and decided to head back to the warmth of the wood stove.  I rose from the bench, looked up and was floored!  Yet another critter wandered to the area to dine.  A lone raccoon waddled out of the marsh and started scavenging the mudflats for trapped minnows.  After a few moments, the coon waded out to share in the bounty the others were enjoying.  All in all, six mottled ducks, two hooded mergansers, one snowy egret, one tri-colored heron and a lone raccoon feasted upon the minnows that had been flushed out of the marshes by the low tide.  It was definitely a busy, busy morning on the Bayou!