Teeter-tails

  Back in the day when the kids were small, they had a few toys that were called "Weebles".  I don't even know if they still make those funny little things but the advertising jingle was something like "Weebles wobble but they won't fall down!".  Strange...very strange indeed but still sort of cute.  Now, I find that Mother Nature actually invented those Weebles long before PlaySkool did and her Teeter-tails wobble but don't fall down either.

  A lot of birds call the Bayou home during the wintertime.  There is always a food supply and the marshes offer some bit of protection from the cold.  One of the many is the sandpiper.  I only occasionally see them during the summer months but come cold weather, there will always be at least a couple resting on the pier.  Most of the ones that come are Spotted Sandpipers. Although they look similar to a lot of the other sandpipers, it is relatively easy to distinguish them by their actions.  Spotted Sandpipers wobble.  They are always teetering about like they got into some rotten grapes or something.  Up, down, up, down.  Their teetering never stops unless they become concerned about an intruder.  I have no idea why in the world they do this but it is rather comical!

  Some folks might recall a toy from years and years ago called the "Drinking Bird".  This critter would bob its head up and down while it supposedly drank. A bubble of some weird chemical inside would rise up in the glass tube of the neck and cause the toy to bob its head back into the water. When the water evaporated off the beak, it would cool the chemical causing it to slide back down to the bottom of the bird and, tada!, the bird would stand tall again....until the bubble went back up the neck. I promise!  The Spotted Sandpipers bear a great resemblance to that science-related toy!  Not in appearance but in action.  Up, down, up, down.  The bird wobbles...so much so that the action has earned the bird a nickname of "Teeter-tail".

  I like the little sandpipers that come to visit as they make me snicker. They bobble about the pier like a bunch of drunk little critters that cannot find the right step.  Their actions might seem strange but these birds are rather agile at catching bugs either in flight or on land. Gnats, mayflies, midges, moths, flies..all are fair game for the sandpipers.

***Now before anyone questions why a "Spotted Sandpiper" has no spots...this bird is in its non-breeding plumage.  During the breeding season the breast is dappled with large, dark spots.  Right now, the only spots are near the back under the tail.  Question answered before asked!***