"Four and twenty blackbirds..." or at least one!

It was another slow day here on the Bayou.  I headed out to the pier early in the morning and then did not return for the rest of the day.  In fact, I most likely could not have made the trek back down the board path! While doing some menial chores about the Little Bayou House, I, clumsily, dropped a wooden box.  Not good!  I have a penchant for going barefoot and today was no different.  That box made a beeline for my pinkie toe!  OWWW!  Needless to say, that toe is somewhat in the range of blackish/bluish/purplish!  AND...it hurts!  It hurts like crazy!  Have you ever noticed that once you injure a toe, that is the one that always seems to find every piece of furniture in the house?  I thought that I would be bright and put on a pair of shoes but that only made matters worse as the toe puffed to a nice roundness.  Once again, it hurt!  Off came the shoes and I hobbled around.  Each step brought another wince!

Before the wooden box attacked my toe, I did get a couple of nice pictures of a Red-winged Blackbird that chatted with me a while.   This was the "General".  He was making sure the marshes were patrolled and free from any threats.  While he roosts in the nearby pine tree, his lady blackbird and earlier broods all hang low to the marsh.  As he woke the sun with his call, I could hear the chittering of the female and juveniles as they stirred awake in among the reeds.  He made sure that my full attention was on him and not his family!  Old General spread his wings, preened and called loudly a dozen or so times.

I do, indeed, like the birds of the Bayou.  I am intrigued by their habits.  It is difficult to survive with all the predators that would love to make a meal of them.  Just think.."four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie" might sound pretty good to some hawk!  (I remember my grandmother singing that little ditty to me as she sat in her rocking chair looking out over the Bay!  "Sing a song of sixpence...")  The General bid me a fond farewell once he succeeded in rousing the underlings.  His job was done and now it was time for breakfast!

Hopefully, I will be recovered enough from my stupidity so I can hobble to the pier come morning.  I do enjoy watching that sun rise above the pines!