Trading One Heron For Another

   Months ago, a young Great Blue Heron was a thrice daily visitor to the pier.  The young bird came to beg for handouts of menhaden or little mullet.  I was happy to oblige simply because these birds fascinate me. Their feeding habits, territorial disputes and nesting sites are all points of interest.  The bird was dubbed as Moe and he soon became a social media favorite as I posted plenty of photos of him.  He became almost too tame and insisted on being my "best friend"...as long as I was plying him with food.  Then Moe became a no-show.  I have no idea whether something dire happened to my friend or whether he just moved on to a new territory.  Either is a possibility.  

  Now, a new bird is in town!  This morning while Mark and I were on the pier, a very young bird flew in to pay us a visit.  This was not a Great Blue but rather a Tri-colored Heron.  I was impressed with the fact that the bird already has most of its adult plumage even though it is still rather tiny (as far as herons go).   This one was not sure about coming to dine but lingered up the pier from us.  I did, however, get rather close to it when I was leaving the pier.  The bird did not want to fly.  It just sort of side-stepped me as I passed it.  

  Hopefully, our new-found friend will come back in the morning to get a handout.  If it does, this bird, too, will receive a name.  I figure that all of our friends should be on a "first name basis" with us so the Tri-colored will soon have his own unique name.  (The only name that gets repeated is Old Gus.  This is the name of almost every Brown Pelican in the Bay!  With the exception of two named by our little granddaughter. They are Gus and Cinderella! Now, if only she was here to pick a name for our new friend but she is far, far away at the moment naming things on a tropical island!)  The Tri-colored Heron will be stuck with an unimaginative name, I suppose.