Dethroning of the King!

  Critters come and critters go here on the Bayou.  Everyday brings a new round of faces that I might see on my hikes or while working the gardens.  Early this morning, I noticed that the male Starling was standing watch over his mate while she was on the nest.  With her nesting hole high in the dead Black Gum tree, she really does not have a lot of worries about intruders but he dutifully perched himself on the very tiptop of the tree.  There he had a perfect view of the entire hill but at the same time, everything had a perfect view of him.  He needs to find a bit more coverage or else he his liable to become a meal for the owl or hawk.  (The two of them were out and about as well this morning at daybreak.)  Mr. Starling was not too happy about my being in the garden just below his wife's abode but I had work to do!  My first chore was to scrub the winter grime off of the lawn chairs so I could give them a fresh coat of paint.

  As I was washing the chairs, a crane fly came to visit.  The critter sort of flopped its way around my head a bit before landing on the very chair that I was scrubbing.  Not being one to kill a critter just because it bears a striking resemblance to a mega-sized mosquito, I decided to poke it. Hopefully, this would act as a bit of encouragement for it to move on its way.  Nope, the crane fly liked its perch and was not going to move.  I poked again.  The goofy thing took flight only to alight in almost the same spot!  Ok, so maybe I should just take a break from my scrubbing and commune with nature a bit here.  Mr. Crane Fly (yes, it was a male), why do you like my chair so much?  Do you honestly believe that you are King and this is your throne?  Actually, I had already figured out that the crane fly was trying to warm himself.  I had pulled the chairs in the sunniest spot in the yard which happened to also be blocked from the wind.  Pondering whether I really wanted to shoo that bug from my work space, I sat back to admire his determination.  Then disaster struck!

  Even though I was within a few feet of the crane fly, Mr. Starling swooped down and snatched King Crane Fly from his warming spot! Ok, so I have heard that starlings eat a lot of critters but this was a tad ridiculous!   Either the bird was mighty brave or really hungry!   I am supposing that he decided that maybe I was not such a threat after all. Sorry King Crane Fly!  At least, now I could get back to my chair-scrubbing task.