Moody (Great) Blues

Most every evening if you want to find me, you had better make the trek down the board path to the pier.  I usually can be found taking in the sunset or catching a redfish for the next day's supper.  I am never lonely there as I have a myriad of friends that drop by to visit and beg for a handout of some fish.  More oft than not, my fish bait winds up being fed to some forlorn bird that stares at me long enough to warrant a treat.  Yesterday evening, my visitor was a Great Blue Heron.  He did not beg for a handout..he wanted the whole pier!

Mark and I walked to the pier just in time to see the sun starting to set behind the heavy clouds.  On the far post of the pier, a Great Blue sat staring at us.  By his stance, I do believe he was trying to intimidate us to keep our distance.  When we first noticed him, his back was toward us.  Then, as we approached, he turned to stare at us.  He took a hunched position and glared at us with his beady eyes!  I was a bit amused by the way his legs splayed out to accommodate his large feet.  The pier post was just not wide enough for him to stand gracefully!

I took several pictures before Mark continued on toward the benches.  The bird sat.  He was not overly anxious to give up his prime roosting spot. His evening and night should have been spent in peace.  On the post, he did not have to worry about too many predators like he would have on land.  Even though the Great Blue Heron is quite a large bird, coyotes will attempt to make a meal of this bird if it roosts on the ground.  Occasionally, one of the alligators will take a liking to heron as a meal as well but up on that post, the bird was relatively safe.  Reluctantly, the bird took flight.  He did not go far, though, as he chose the post of my brother's pier in lieu of ours.  The next time I catch a nice mess of menhaden, I will have to make sure to offer a handful to the Great Blue Heron.  Maybe that will atone for our disrupting his snooze.