Take Off and Splash Down!

  Dawn on the Bayou is a peaceful time.  Its quietness is usually on broken by the call of a loon, the occasional squeal of a raccoon and the humongous splashes of the pelicans.  Brown Pelicans dive after their breakfast with headlong splashes.  Contrary to popular belief, they do not actually grasp anything in that initial dive but rather scoop up disoriented fish swimming in the wake of the dive.  That splash is huge merely because of the size of the bird.  When you take into consideration that their wingspread can be up to eight feet, it is easy to understand the force hitting the water.  Water droplets are sent flying.  In the early morn's sun just coming over the horizon, those droplets gleam like diamonds.  This was my view this morning.

  The rising sun had cast a golden glow over the entire Bay.  It brightness made it difficult to see anything but silhouettes when looking toward the east.  This was fine by me as I was familiar with what was making those huge splashes but anyone not from here might have thought differently.  I managed to get a few good photographs of my friend pelicans as they frolicked in the rosy dawn.  

  I counted thirty-one Brown Pelicans this morning.  They are here since the Bay and Bayou are both filled with an abundant food source.  Small mullet and menhaden are schooling in the shallow water making them easy prey for the large birds.  It does not take long for the birds to fill their tummies and put on an extra layer of fat for the winter.  While they are here, they do indeed put on a good show for me during my early morning trek to the pier.