Under the pier

Ms. Ez and I braved the coolness (no cold weather here on the Bayou) to head to the pier early this morning.  Just as we neared the water's edge, there was much fluttering and splashing under the pier.  Hmmm?  There was definitely a critter under there!  I stopped and motioned for Ezzy to sit and stay.  The old dog can read hand motions as well, if not better, than verbal commands.  She immediately dropped down to her haunches and stayed put.  I eased closer to see what was making such a commotion.  All of a sudden, a black blur swooshed out from under the pier and across the water!  Ahhh, a coot!  Yep, an American Coot had spent the night under our pier.  Here, it was out of danger from most critters and had a good shelter from the brisk wind.  This was one smart bird!

A few days ago, my brother made mention that the "loons" had flown into the area. He said there were hundreds of them!  That in itself should have told me something was amiss.  Rarely have I ever seen more than a dozen or so loons around the Bayou but coots, on the other hand, seem to band together in large numbers.  The medium sized, black birds huddle together for safety.  It seems to confuse larger predators.  Still, this coot was alone.  It had sought the safety that the pier provided and the old dog and I had disturbed its rest.

Instead of flying across the Bay to escape our intrusion, the bird merely flew (splashed) a good thirty feet before alighting on the water again.  There it swam in tight circles as it eyed the two of us.  Ms. Ez and I made our way to the bench to watch the sunrise but that bird caught our attention more than anything else.  I do believe it was just as interested in us as we were it.  Never once did it seem unduly frightened which made me happy.  I like having the waterfowl around and hope this one stays put for the winter.  It is a pretty, little thing!