Who Remembers Who?

   The last time that the Grand Princess, Mary Ruth, visited the Bayou, she named two of the pelicans, "Gus and Cinderella".  The names stuck and the two have always been called by those names.  Since her current visit began, Mary Ruth has been asking to see her pelican friends but the rains prevented long visits to the pier.  Finally, as if on cue, a lone pelican flew to the pier and paddled around in the water.  It came close to where Mary Ruth was standing and put on quite the show before taking flight to the other side of the Bayou.  Now I am not saying that this was definitely one of the pair but it sure seems mighty odd that the pelican seemed intent on getting the little girl's attention.  Perhaps it is actually one of "her" birds and it recalls the handouts she so generously gave.  Perhaps not.  Still, it seems like a happy thought and it tickled the little tot to no end.

  It is funny how we do not give critters credit for having feelings.  After spending a good deal of time merely watching the critters of the Bayou, it seems to me that they have the ability to feel and care.  There have been too many instances to prove the fact that they do recall certain faces.  The pelican may (or may not) have remembered the sweet, little girl but the happy squeal that resulted from the bird's visit is evidence that Mary Ruth remembered and has fond memories of the bird and Bayou.

Gus and Cinderella....Those Silly Birds!

  Gus and Cinderella are our pair of resident brown pelicans.  They stay year round next to our pier or my brothers.  The birds are smart.  They know that free food is for the taking here.  When we clean fish, all of the scraps are given to these birds.  Don't get me wrong...at the moment, there are dozens of brown pelicans on the piers but these, two, are special.  They were named by my little granddaughter during one visit to the Bayou.  She had heard me calling one pelican "Gus" and declared the other to be Cinderella.  Before this naming, all pelicans were Gus.  There were no Cinderellas, Penelopes, Brunos or any other named birds.  They were all Gus....male or female.

  Yesterday, dozens of the pelicans were sitting on my brother's pier.  Each pier post had its own bird and the edges of the pier, itself, were lined with resting birds.  This is normal.  What is not normal is the two pelicans that were swinging on a rope.  My brother has several large boats tied off to his pier.  The ropes are strung from boat to post.  This crisscrossing of ropes made for an inviting pastime for a couple of pelicans....maybe Gus and Cinderella.  The birds would fly in, land on the rope and swing back and forth in the stiff north breeze.  Then, since their feet are not exactly designed for perching, the birds would lose their grip and start to fall.  The rope kept swinging causing the birds to have to take flight again.  The balancing act did not dissuade the birds from trying.  Both pelicans would fly a large circle around the pier and attempt the swinging perch again.  Gus and Cinderella were having far too much fun to let a wee thing like webbed feet get in the way of their playtime!

  Pelicans are some of the most comical birds around the Bayou.  Besides their crazy antics on the swinging ropes. I become amused at their waddling gait, their begging for food with their huge, gaping bills and their awkward splashdowns.  But, at the same time, they are some of the most efficient flyers being able to soar just inches above the water and they have great fishing techniques.  It is no wonder that I love these big old birds!  Just keep swinging, Gus and Cinderella!  Just keep swinging!

Breakfast Time for Gus and Cinderella

  My little granddaughter rarely gets to visit the Bayou but when she is here, she finds all sorts of things to do.  Like her old mawmaw, I think she enjoys being on the pier or in the greenhouse the best.  In the greenhouse, she tells me that she is going to "hunt for spiders".  Why?  I have no idea but it seems like a grand thing to do so...we do.  We hunt for spiders.  On the pier, she happily feeds the pelicans.  Our bait bucket is endlessly needing refilling but it matters not.  If the little girl wants to throw fish to the birds, so be it.  She can have any fish we have!  She even went so far as to name two of the pelicans...Gus and Cinderella.

  Even though Mary Ruth is not on the Bayou, the pelicans still come begging for handouts.  Each morning as soon as Mark and I head to the pier, the two pelicans come flying to the pier posts.  They know that breakfast will be served within a few minutes.  If we catch small mullet or menhaden, the fish are given whole but if we catch something "eatin' size", we clean the fish and toss the remnants to the birds.  Gus and Cinderella do not seem to mind.  They eat their fill then fly back to the posts to preen.  The pelicans are getting fat and happy!

  This morning, both pelicans awaited us.  We were a bit late getting to the pier again this morning so the pelicans were a tad antsy.  They wanted their breakfast.  Mark threw the net and caught about a dozen nice sized mullet.  These were cleaned for our elderly friends and the entrails tossed to the birds.  Cinderella decided to stay on the post nearest me.  Ok, so a few photographs were in order.  With each picture I took, Cinderella posed.  She turned her head this way and that.  She preened her feathers.  She wiggled her tail.  At times, she even seemed to smile for the camera.  Not once did she attempt to flee.  I think Mary Ruth has tamed these birds!  I know they await her return to the Bayou.

A Few Steps to Takeoff!

  Mark and I were enjoying a lovely morning on the pier when we noticed one of the brown pelicans diving next to us.  The bird would make its usual crash dive into the water and then sit for the longest time with its bill under water.  Instead of catching the usual six inch long mullet, it was feasting upon one inch long menhaden.  The Bay was full of this tiny fish.  Huge schools were passing under the pier and the pelican was not going to let the free food get away from her.  The pelican (I am thinking this is Cinderella, one of the pelicans named by my granddaughter.) would dive, sit with bill underwater, lift and look skyward then take a big gulp.  Once the load was swallowed, Cinderella would do a fancy little hop, skip and jump before taking flight again.  She would fly in a circle, dive and feast again.  

  Brown pelicans do a funny bit of water-walking before taking flight. They almost look a bit clumsy when taking off but once in full flight the birds are downright graceful.  It always amazes me that something so awkward looking can be so adept.  These birds are the best at what they do.  The dive hunting is a skill unlike any other.  Contrary to the most common belief, they do not dive with their bills open.  How stupid and painful would that be??  There is no way that the bird could survive such a huge impact.  Instead, the bill is closed, the neck tightly tucked and during the dive, the pelican rotates its body to the left.  This protects the trachea when the bird hits the water.  The dive is not meant to catch anything but rather stun and confuse the small fish below the surface. Once the bird recuperates from the dive (a matter of a few seconds), it will scoop up the small fish as they try to reschool.  This is actually a pretty ingenious way of hunting.  The success is obvious as brown pelicans have been using this method forever without change.

  We watched for the longest time and were continually amused at the water-walking takeoff of the pelican.  Just a few steps to takeoff and away we go!  Then, circle, plummet, feast and repeat. 

 

Hey! I am your best friend! Give me FOOD!

  Happy New Year!  It rained...and rained...and rained.  Then!  Then, it rained some more.  At times, the storms were so severe that I could not hear anything save the water pelting the rooftop.  Thunder, high winds and torrential rains seem to have settled in for the duration.  Once it started yesterday, it seems that the system forgot to move on out of the way.  Last night, it poured.  Today, it poured.  And now. it is doing the same.  Nonstop, torrential rains seem to be the norm.

  Since I could not get out to the pier today, I sat looking at some of the pictures that I took just before this storm settled in on the Bayou.  One made me giggle since it was of Cinderella, the pelican.  She (or he? I am not sure which) is such a friendly thing and will follow me around just begging for a handout.  The day of the photograph, Cinderella was almost too friendly.  I had just gone down to make sure the fishing gear was secure when I turned to find Cinderella following a few steps behind me.  I sat down on the bench to have a chat with the bird.   "Well, now!  I suppose you are wanting your lunch."  I said to the pelican.  I had no intentions of throwing the net but the big, sad eyes made me change my mind.  I got up to retrieve the net.  The bird followed.  As I tossed the net, Cinderella stayed right with me.  The net came back empty.  Poor Cinderella!  No lunch for her!

  I sat down again and watched as the bird sidled up along side of me.  I put out my hand to show that I had no minnows and the silly bird nigh on snapped off my fingers!  It is a good thing I was quick handed!  I pulled back my fingers just in the nick of time!  SNAP, closed with the bill!  Ok, so the bird thought my fingers were little fish!  Not good!  Now, every time I wiggle my fingers, Cinderella and Gus come running up the pier.  They both want minnows!  My bait bucket will never be safe again!

The Naming

  Take one tiny girl fishing and introduce her to critters that she has never seen and she will name them all.  For the past few days, we have been able to share the Bayou with our granddaughter, Mary Ruth and grandson, Mark Charles.   While he loves being outside and seeing everything, the little fellow is still to young to fully appreciate what is around him.  He is all about playing and exploring his newfound freedom of toddling.  Mary Ruth, on the other hand, is at that perfect age of learning about nature and she loves it.  

  One of the highlights was the feeding of the two pelicans.  It did not take long before Mary Ruth decided to name them. The Brown Pelicans of the Bayou have always been called "Old Gus" for as long as I can remember but Mary Ruth decided that the two needed individual names so the second of the pair became known as "Cinderella".  Hey, this worked for me.  Gus and Cinderella now reign as King and Queen of the Bayou.  It is great but being as both male and female pelicans look the same, I can only hope that they are named correctly.

  After feeding (and naming) the pelicans, her daddy showed her a baby shrimp that he caught in the minnow trap.  At first, she was having no part of holding that weird looking thing!  She soon warmed up to the idea and shyly put out her hand.  The shrimp laid quietly in the palm for just about two seconds before it flipped (as shrimp are prone to do) and slid between the pier boards.  This caused Mary Ruth to burst into a fit of giggles before settling down to the task of naming the critter.  "Tiny." she quietly murmured.  "Tiny."  Well, at least that was appropriate!

  Next came a baby crab.  Since she had held a shrimp, her dad thought she might like to hold the crab.  NOPE!  THAT WAS NOT HAPPENING!  I let the little critter crawl up on my finger to show her that the crab was not out to eat her but she still was not convinced.  The crab never made it to her hand before it, too, scooted between the pier boards back into the water.  Since she had named the other critters, I knew it was best to ask if this one to had a name.  I was not disappointed..."Yes, it was named Crabby!"  Alrighty then.  Crabby, it was.  

 So, Old Gus, Cinderella, Tiny and Crabby all live in the Bayou and all are probably back at home telling their friends about the cute little girl named Mary Ruth!  I know for a fact that the first two are going to miss their friend when she heads back to her home tomorrow.  This mawmaw is going to miss both tykes terribly.  The Bayou is going to feel so very lonely.