Who needs swans??

  Ever since I was a wee tot, I heard about the gorgeous, elegant swans that could be seen places far from the Bayou.  I was shown pictures of the birds and was fully enamored by their beauty.  To a kid more accustomed to seeing chickens and turkeys, swans and peacocks seemed to be birds that could only be found at palaces!  To this day, I think both are gorgeous and rightly deserve all of the awe that I felt for them.  Still, as I grew to adulthood, I came to realize that other birds were equally beautiful.  As for that matter, each bird (and critter) is just as lovely in its own right.  

  While on the pier, I watch the shorebirds as they scavenge the mudflats for a morsel to have as breakfast.  It occurred to me that, while swans are beautiful, they have nothing on my egrets.   The snow-white plumes, the long slender legs and the bright yellow feet all add to the magnificence of these birds.  The Snowy Egret is one of the more graceful of the shorebirds.  It wades along in the shallows and uses those bright yellow feet to stir up the muddy bottom.  This causes tiny shrimp to scatter in confusion and gives the bird a chance to feast.  

  Yesterday, I watched as the Snowy Egret put on quite the show.  Even though it bathed in the muddy Bayou waters, its plumes sparkled.  After a bit, the egret gracefully stepped up on a gnarled log to prod the rotted wood for hidden crustaceans.  There was not a speck of mud to be seen on the bird!  Yep, who needs swans when Snowy Egrets are just as fine!  Beauty is where you look for it....even in the muddy waters of the Bayou.