Drying Out

   Earlier today, I managed to slip down to the pier in between rain showers.  The weather is on one of those quirky runs again with rain ruling the night and morning with the temperatures hovering around 80.  By late afternoon, the winds shifted and the temperatures are to drop to the mid 30s by midnight.  Well now!  That is nigh on a 50 (supposedly) degree drop in a few hours!  Crazy! But being on the pier felt good today.  

  While there, I watched as several cormorants were air-drying their wings.  The birds were perched on the posts of my brother's pier just to my west.  They had their wings held out to let the warm air dry them so they could go right back to diving for more fish.  Cormorants have relatively short wings compared to other birds.  This is to allow them to swim better underwater.  They use the wings sort of like rudders to steer themselves along.  The bird spends so much time underwater that their feathers become waterlogged and need to be dried occasionally.  Perching on some convenient post or pier with wings widespread is their way of drying.  The short wings do not seem to cause any problems during flight other than it is a bit more taxing on the bird.  Underwater, however, the cormorants are pros at speeding along.

  The birds, today, took no notice of my camera being pointed at them.  They were intent on drying out enough to get back to hunting for their supper before the chill sets in for the night.  

The "Flight" of Cormorants

   Early this morning, I grabbed my snips and started clearing down by the pier.  Since the hurricane washed everything clean and the weather is cool, it is the perfect time to snip out some of the underbrush.  This chore has been long needed so it best be tackled now.  While doing this, I was able to still watch the critters of the Bayou which is my favorite pastime.  The hillside was quiet.  Either the neighbors had all gone to work or were not out and about yet.  Suddenly, there came such a splashing near the remnants of the pier!!  Goodness!  What in the world was going on down there??

  Well, you know me.  I just had to stop work and investigate!  So, camera in hand, I eased my way down the single plank runners of the makeshift pier.  The boards wobbled and shook but soon I was almost to the marsh edge.  There were cormorants!!  And pelicans!  More than I could count!  It seems that a large flight of cormorants had come in on their migration.  They were feeding in the shallows so about a dozen brown pelicans joined in on the fun.  While we always have a few resident cormorants, the hundreds that come for the winter months is a sight to behold.

  A lot of folks are not overly fond of these birds but it made me happy to see them return.  Cormorants are a good indicator of an area's pollution index.  The birds will not return to a place that is unhealthy and my birds come every year.  The Bayou must be holding its own against the human race and its garbage.  Welcome back, my friends.  Glad to have you for the next few months.

Serenity at its best

   My favorite time on the pier is just before daybreak.  Then, the air is still cool and crisp.  The night sounds are settling and the day is bursting forth with new music.   This is my time, my space and my peace.  The morning starts with a hot mug of black coffee, a regimen of stretching exercises and a bit of meditation.  After that, I am rearing to go meet the day.

  This morning, I was a bit surprised to see several large flocks of cormorants coming in to the Bay.  The birds are early this year as normally, they come in October or even November.  Perhaps this is the sign of an early fall and winter for us.  That sure would be nice!  Very few of the cormorants stopped near the pier.  Most hesitated in flight but then went further west.  Most flocks had nigh on fifty birds which is not nearly what will be here by late November.

  With one straggling group of only about ten birds, I was confused to see a single bird drop from the group and alight in the water near the Bayou.  As soon as it changed course, I realized that this was no cormorant causing even more confusion.  Why was a duck traveling with the migrating cormorants?  The little duck has been around the pier for most of the day now and seems to be in no hurry to rejoin its odd flock.  As I was watching the lone duck, a golden glow from the sunrise softly settled about the creature.  I wonder if it was how the Bayou was welcoming its new friend.  The whole scene made me feel a bit warm and fuzzy!

Just In Time To Say Goodbye

  The morning was met with a threatening rainstorm on the horizon so the pier visit was cut short.  Between the drizzly rain and the barrage of gnats, time spent on the water was short.  However, in the few minutes allowed, I found a few bayou friends had gathered nearby.  A dozen or so cormorants had settled in for the night and were just starting their morning feed fest.  Most of these were juveniles that still had their grayish-white breasts.  The birds were doing their usual "heavy swimming" with just their necks and very little of their backs above water. 

  Cormorants do not have feathers that repel water like ducks do.  Their feathers often become waterlogged causing them to seek refuge on pier posts.   There, they spread the wings and stand letting the wind and sun dry their bodies.  This heavy swimming does allow the birds to do well with catching their meals.  It has been said that having heavier bodies makes their diving easier.  It does not, however, make taking flight easier.  The birds have to do an awful lot of "water-walking" and wing-flapping to get airborne.  

  As I sat swatting gnats, I thought of how I am going to miss my friends. It is time for them leave the area. They visit here for the winter then head north to breed.  Once all of the migrating waterfowl leave, the Bayou seems a tad lonely.  At least, then, the gators and cottonmouths will be back to add a smidgen of entertainment.  There is never a boring day when you can find amusement in just about anything.  I do.

Just a bird being a bird!

  While double-crested cormorants are around the Bayou all year long, when the weather turns cooler, we are inundated with those migrating southward.  The local fishermen are not overly happy to see the thousands of fish-eating birds gather in the shallows of the Bay as they look at the birds as competition.  The birds do eat a lot of fish but, in all fairness, they eat small fish.  They do not grab large fish as they swallow their dinner whole.  A large fish would choke the poor bird.  Fishermen do not have worries about a group of cormorants depleting their catch.  Pop always said if you are catching fish small enough to feed a bird, then you "ain't much a fisherman".  I agree. 

  A lot of pier owners do not care for the birds, either.  Cormorants are not like ducks that can stay in the water for a long time.  Cormorants' feathers become waterlogged and the birds need to dry out.  They seek pier posts so they can spread their wings and dry without worry of becoming supper for some predator.  The only downside to this according to the pier owners is that the birds poop a lot!  Most folks find messy piers disgusting and will try to shoo the birds away.  I figure it like this.  A good rain will wash the pier so let the birds borrow the posts.  It is part of nature and I am sure not going to interfere!  

  My whole point is to let the critters be just that...critters.  They do eat fish.  They do use the pier posts as drying stations.  They do poop.  To be brutally honest here, I know a lot of people who have less respect for Mother Nature than these birds do.  At least, bird poop is biodegradable.  The beer cans, bottles and other trash are not.  Every day, I have to scoop dozens of these items from the marsh and I find THAT disgusting.  No amount of rain is going to clean up that mess. This all falls back to why I have more critter friends than people friends.  Carry on, birds, carry on.  You are welcome to use my pier posts as your drying station.

All Laid Out In Black and White

  It does not take a whole lot to amuse or interest me.  The most mundane occurrence can pique an interest and while away a good hour or so.  Late this morning, the event that took precedence over planting grape vines was a huge flock of pelicans that came to visit the Bayou.  While there is nothing unusual about pelicans and bayous, these just happen to be white pelicans.  White pelicans are visitors here.  They are not permanent residents like their cousins, the brown pelicans.  White ones are a reason to quit work, head to the pier and take a few photographs.  

  This mornings' scoop of pelicans was larger than the normal four or five of years past.  Twenty four birds came!  This was cause for elation!  As I was trying to take as many pictures as I could, I began to notice other birds gathering.  Dozens of cormorants soon joined the pelicans.  The mix of black cormorants and white pelicans made me giggle...it was all there in black and white.

  I am not sure what triggered the memory but Pop always used that term to describe something that was quite simple.  "It was all laid out in black and white."  I always took it to mean that it was as simple as reading something.  It was a done deed if it was written in black ink on white paper.  My pelicans and cormorants were nothing of the sort but the term still seemed to be adequate.  

  My photo shoot came to an abrupt end when I remembered the grape vine roots that were laid bare in the beaming sun.  Oops, better get those things in the ground!  Goodbye, birds!  Hopefully, you will hang around for a while!

Nature mimicking people? Not a good thing.

  One has to ponder how things are in the world today.  With all of the stupidity ruling, where has commonsense gone?  There is nothing but a bunch of whiny folks complaining about anything and everything.  People think they deserve more than they have, find fault with everyone else and are so easily offended by the most unoffensive things has created a pitiful state of being.  Basically, in my humble opinion it all boils down to one thing....greed.  Just about 90% of the people nowadays think they should be handed everything on a gold platter.  (Yeah, I know that the saying is a silver platter but, here lately, if you stuck a million bucks on a silver platter and handed it to someone, they would be offended that the million dollars was not on a gold platter.  Sad state of affairs this mess is.)  

  I was thinking about all the greed that seems to have taken hold of the greater part of the population nowadays as I sat on the pier this morning.  The pier is where I do my greatest thinking.  I ponder things and, then as my Uncle Alfred used to say, put things back to suit myself.  Yep...I wish I could.  A lot of folks would receive a good whupping and then be sent back home.  Just as I was about to head back to the sanity of the Little Bayou House, I heard a lot of racket out over the Bay.  The cormorants had flown back into the area by the hundreds but, while they were peacefully diving for minnows, they were being attacked by seagulls.  Yep, about thirty seagulls were literally dive bombing the cormorants.  Greed had taken over the gulls.  In their eyes, the cormorants had no business being in the Bay eating "their" minnows.  Even though there was more than enough for every bird in the county to get breakfast, the gulls wanted everything for themselves.  There was no "share and share alike" with the greedy gulls.  I watched as the gulls would actually steal fish from the cormorants and other birds after it was caught.  The pelicans, ducks, mergansers and grebes were happily swimming right along with the cormorants but not the seagulls.  They squawked and attacked like a bunch of rioters who did not get their way on something.  Whiny, raucous, hateful and lazy...all over a tiny minnow that could have easily been earned the good old fashioned way.

  I stayed to see the outcome of the ruckus.  Would the greedy gulls win? Would the cormorants cede to the wishes of the rioters?  Would evil top peaceful?  Not in this case.  The cormorants, ducks, pelicans, mergansers and grebes kept feeding regardless of the ugliness of the gulls.  Yes, the cormorants did eventually leave the area but only after they finished feeding.  This was not by the intimidation of the gulls, however, as it is a daily thing.  By evening, the cormorants would fly back in to get supper. The riotous gulls would start their stupidity, once again, thinking they had succeeded in doing great things.  Delusional little rascals, aren't they?  The other birds were happy campers with full bellies while the gulls did nothing more than cause themselves a bit of grief.  Sounds familiar doesn't it?

Here They Come!

  The trek to the pier this morning was interesting, to say the least.  A low fog shrouded the the Bay and added a bone-reaching chill to the air.  Mr. PJ and I had no intentions of staying out long in the cold, damp air but he and I both love being on the pier. He has fallen quite well into the role of protective dog and refuses to leave my side.  I appreciate him being there.  He brings great comfort especially when dense fog blocks the view.  

  While waiting for the sun to rise, a low whistling sound could be heard just out of our range of view.  I knew it was the whir of wings but this had to be one large flock of some sort of birds.  The whistling lasted for a good ten minutes!  Also audible was the sound of splashing as the birds were making contact with the water.  Well, that told me one thing...they were a type of waterfowl!  I would just have to wait until the sun burned off a bit of the fog before making an identification.  The sunrise was gorgeous as the big red ball illuminated the gazebo across the Bayou.  I was in the perfect spot to see the sun hit the tip top of the building making it resemble a light house beacon.  I was torn between taking pictures of the sun and the birds that I could now identify as Double-crested Cormorants.  Hundreds of the birds were quickly filling up the Bay.  The flock (or gulp if you are looking for the proper term of a group of cormorants) seemed to be endless!  As far as I could see, there were birds...some swimming...others flying.

  The arrival of the Double-crested Cormorants is a sure sign that our weather is soon to change to the cooler side.  The birds fly in to spend the winter months with us.  They are expert divers and will feed upon the little mullet that also fill the Bay.  I like the cormorants and their funny antics.  There is never a dull moment when they are here!

Giving Back

  True friends are just that...true.  They stand by you when things look bad, they help in any way and they give back kindness where kindness was shown.  In this crazy old world, a person is lucky to have a few of folks who truly care.  Sure, there are tons of "fair-weather friends" but barely a handful that will help a person weather the storms.  I am finding that most of my so-called friends are more the sunny type who say they will do anything to help but rarely show up when needed.  No problem.  If there is one thing that I can say Pop instilled in me, it is the ability to do for myself.  It is hard to ask for help so I usually do not.  That is not to say that the occasional true friend that offers a hand is not appreciated, it is just far easier to do things myself than to bend and ask.  I would rather be on the other side of the helping hand. Then, again, there are those that give back more than they received.  Folks like that are a rare commodity and should be treasured.  I am, indeed, blessed with my "handful" of those!  Folks like that give until there is just no more to be given.  

  Sometimes, those returning with a gift in hand are not even humans.  I have often stated that I have more critter friends than human.  We just seem to get along a lot better.  A mutual respect between the Bayou's critters and me has grown to a point that we share and share alike.  If an animal needs shelter or food, it is soon supplied in some form.  They return the favor by merely allowing me to photograph them.  Most show no fear of me as they remember the handouts and appreciate them.  Then, there was today....a gift in return for kindness shown.

  When the old dog, Mr. PJ and I finally made it to the pier between the rainstorms today,  dozens of birds had taken refuge there.  Pelicans, cormorants,  gulls, herons all rested their weary wings.  All of these feast upon fish, yet, there in middle of all of them was a fine mullet.  When I eased my way into the midst of the birds, they seemed to eye my reaction to finding the fish.  Any one of these fine feathered friends could have snatched that fish at any given moment but it almost seemed as if they had left it there for me.  Hmmm?  Was I reading far too much into this coincidence?  Probably....but you have to admit it was a tad unusual of a find.  

  Regardless of whether the birds had intentionally left the fish for me or if, by some quirky accident, they overlooked a fish in their midst, I intend on looking at it as friends helping friends. No, I did not keep the fish.  (I do not have a penchant for eating things that I find already dead.)  I did, however, share it back with my feathered friends.  The good-sized mullet was cut in chunks and doled out to each of the birds.  This they accepted.  We had a lovely picnic before the rains set in again and Mr. PJ and I had to race back up to the Little Bayou House...bit I did so with a smile on my face.

Praise for the Morning!

  Daybreak is my favorite time of the day.  After a good night's rest, the world awakes to new possibilities.  If you ever observe the critters around you, it is evident that they, too, appreciate the new day.  All are praising the morning in their own way.  Even nocturnal critters, who are yawning and creeping into their slumber, welcome the rising sun. Others literally raise their song on high and welcome whatever life throws at them.  

  Yesterday as we were watching the lovely sunrise, a cormorant sat high on the post of my brother's pier.  With its wings outstretched and its beak pointed heavenward, the bird looked as if it, indeed, was singing praises for the rising sun.  Yes, I know this is a common position for these diving birds and that it helps them to dry their water laden feathers but, still, I imagine that the bird was happy for the new day....as we all should be.  

  Years ago, Eleanor Farjeon penned the lyrics to a hymn called "Morning Has Broken".  These lyrics run through my mind almost every morning as I am watching the sun rise above the pines and listening to life around me.  Sometimes, I actually start humming the tune.  It seems fitting.

"Morning has broken like the first morning.

Blackbird has spoken like the first bird.

Praise for the singing,

Praise for the morning,

Praise for them springing fresh from the word."

What a Motley Crew of Friends!

  With the coming of fall, the weather has cooled nicely.  Early mornings are pleasant down on the pier so I tend to spend a good bit of time there.  It matters not if the fish are biting, the view alone is enough to keep me intrigued.  This morning, another gathering of the cormorants took place.  This time, the birds never stopped.  A long stream of them flew eastward along the far shore.  As I was photographing them, a few dolphins decided to join in on the fun.  

  While this was all fun, my favorites were the pelicans.  Dozens of the large birds were dive bombing the schools of mullet.  Today, they seemed to be doing it more for fun than for nourishment.  The pelicans were not even making attempts to actually scoop up anything to eat.  It was just dive and take off again.  Perhaps they were practicing their fishing skills!  

  One pelican stayed close to the pier.  This bird would dive and then sit to look at me for a while.  Of course, I had to talk with the bird. We are old friends.  Its close proximity gave me some excellent photo opportunities!  After a bit, a lone cormorant came to visit us.  With the rest of its kind far down the Bay, it seemed to appreciate the company of the pelicans.   All of us, as misfits, seemed to flock together.  Friendship can cross the species boundaries at times.

Here They Come!

  This time of year sees a whole new bunch of critters on the Bayou especially in the way of birds. Birds are migrating southward with the coming of winter and they either stop in for a rest before heading on their merry way or they spend the winter with us.  It makes me happy to see the thousands of waterfowl visiting the area.  Each visit to the pier during late fall, gives me the chance to see new birds.  Some of these are new to me while others are returning friends.  

  A couple of days ago, huge flocks of cormorants could be seen gathering in the Bay.  This is crazy since all of the flocks were flying in FROM the south.  Shouldn't they be heading south if they are migrating? Thousands of birds accumulated in the Bay.  I have never witnessed this many cormorants here at any given time.  Usually, there are at most a few dozen or perhaps even up to a hundred but never this many! When they landed in the water, they immediately started swimming toward each other until there was a thick mass of black as far as I could see. Then, as quickly as they came, the cormorants took flight and disappeared from sight....heading northward!

  The cormorant is a funny bird that will resort to diving beneath the water when threatened instead of taking flight.  They are excellent divers that can swim for long distances beneath the surface.  Perhaps this is why their collective name is a "Swim" of cormorants!  This ability and their hooked beak makes them experts at fishing.  While it was exciting to see so many birds in the Bay at one time, I am sort of glad to see that most have ventured on to parts unknown.  With their fishing expertise, my catches would have most likely come to a halt if they had stayed.  Happy fall...happy migration!

One Up, One Down

  Up and down, up and down.  It felt good to be on the pier once again after my bout with whatever ailed me.  Mark and I sat watching the hundreds of migratory birds that had filled the Bay during my absence. Cormorants and loons were bobbing about as they breakfasted on menhaden and shrimp.  Pelicans were making huge splashes in the water as they dove after little mullet and, of course, the ever present seagulls were making a huge racket as they begged for handouts.  In fact, while Mark fished, several times a seagull grabbed his bait and tried to fly away from the band of hungry birds.  Mark would have to yank his bait back out of the beak of the bird.  I was just thankful that no bird was hooked during these ordeals!

  It was two of the Brown Pelicans that actually amused me this morning.  The pair seemed to be working in tandem to catch their breakfast.  One would splash down into the water while the other was taking flight just feet from the point of impact.  This method seem to be working.  The confused menhaden and mullet were being scooped up in great quantities.  Both birds were fattening up for the wintertime when the fish might be scarce.  

  Last week, hundreds of White Pelicans visited the Bay then went on their merry way to the east.  Old timers around here used to be able to properly forecast the coming weather by observing the critters.  With all of the birds seemingly coming a bit early this year, I wonder if we are in for an early winter.  I guess I better get down to the wild persimmon tree to check the seeds.  That is my surefire way of predicting the weather!

We All Need Good Friends During a Storm

  The storm system that is raging over a good bit of the country also refuses to leave the Bayou.  High winds and heavy rains were the rule for today.  This caused much flooding in the surrounding areas but for once the Bayou was one of the "drier" places.  Unlike during hurricanes where the tidal surge causes major problems, rainwater merely slides down the hillside into the Bay. We are blessed to live on such a high hill. Others around us are not so fortunate.  Houses and businesses are being flooded.  It is such a sad situation at the very least.  The winds, on the other hand, are quite...errr....brisk?  With the immense amount of rain saturating the ground, the wind does wreak havoc on the poor trees. Those  with shallow root systems are apt to topple.  So far, other than a few small bushes, our trees have held fast.  The bad thing about this system is that it is so slow moving.  The lingering rains do nothing but create more trouble.  

   I took advantage of the one break from the rain today.  Being housebound was beginning to wear on my nerves so about 3pm, I made a quick dash to the pier.  The small skiff was holding its own against the waves although the bilge pump was working overtime!  As I was checking the boat, I heard a familiar sound.  Ahh, the Bottlenose Dolphins were playing around the pier!  Careful to not slip and slide on the wet boards, I hurried out to watch them.  I adore these massive creatures!  I am always in awe of their beauty and grace.  Four of the gigantic creatures would surface and then dive again.  In my fascination, I purely forgot to video the show!  After about ten minutes, the dolphins eased away towards the west.  I was sorry to see them go but felt extremely privileged to have been on the pier at the time of their visit.

  One creature decided that it was just too much trouble to move out of my way.  On the pier post, a lone cormorant sat drying his wings.  Even though these are diving birds, the heavy rains soaked the bird.  It looked at me as if to say "If it is ok with you, I shall just stay right here and rest a bit."  I assured the bird that I had no intention of shooing it off the post as I fully understood its plight.  It responded with a few squeaky noises and then a couple of croaks.  I did notice that dozens of other cormorants seemed to be following the dolphin pod.  Perhaps they were picking up tidbits of fish leftover by the dolphins feeding on mullet.  The one on the post was missing out on a sure meal but he did not seem to be overly worried.  Maybe his belly was filled earlier and now he just desired to dry his wings.  Whatever, Mr. Cormorant! You can do this in peace.

  It was at that moment that the rains started once again and I needed to hurry back up that hill!  I did not wish to get soaked! My entertainment for the day was over.  I felt better after a little communing with nature.  I love my critter friends!

Jewel-eyed and Blue-throated!

  There are several cormorants hanging about the Bayou recently.  They, along with other waterfowl, have flown in to spend the winter with us.  I am sure that just about now, they are wondering why in the world they ever left their summer home as the weather has not been exactly agreeable with their migration.  Things will change soon and they will be happy that they made the flight.  In the meantime, the cormorants are happy campers with the Bay full of little fish.  Feeding time is easy. 

  While most folks think that cormorants are strange birds and are not too pretty, I find them "strangely beautiful".  Even though the birds often appear to be jet black, their feathers are actually iridescent.  If the sunlight hits the feathers in a certain way, the bird is gorgeous!  While their plumage is quite notable, it is their eyes that I find captivating.  If you ever manage to get close enough to come "eye to eye", you will notice that cormorants have bright greenish blue eyes.  The teal color stands out against their dark feather with a certain flair!  These eyes sparkle like jewels!  The eyes are set off by a bit of reddish orange around the face.  AND...the cormorants' throats are blue on the inside!  Imagine that! If you ever had the chance to peer down the gullet of a cormorant, you would find it bright blue!

  While I never have the chance to come face to face with the cormorants, I am happy they call the Bayou home during the winter months.  It makes me happy to have them around....even with their weird bird design!

Just Wing It

   Sometimes critters can be most amusing even when they are not trying to be.  I am not talking trained pets but critters in the wild.  Take the cormorant, for example.  These birds have uncanny knack for swimming low in the water.  Sometimes all you can see are their necks and small head.  If you are not careful, you could mistake them for a weird sea serpent.  (Perhaps the Loch Ness Monster was none other than a cormorant photographed at an unusual angle! Probably not, but it gives you the idea that cormorants are not your normal water fowl.) These birds do this merely because they are heavy.  Not really! Cormorants are adept diving birds and spend a good bit of time underwater.  They surface but only their neck and head are seen above water.  These birds lack the very oily feathers that other water birds have.  This is to decrease their buoyancy which helps them stay underwater for longer times than  other birds.  Their feathers become waterlogged which brings us to another unusual thing about cormorants.

  As I was on the pier today, I noticed a cormorant diving for little mullet.  The neck and head could be seen now and again but the body of the bird stayed underwater.  After a good twenty minutes or so of this, my friend decided it was time for a break.  It laboriously took flight and made a beeline for a tall post near my brother's pier.  There, the bird preened for a while.  It then took the "air-drying" position.  With wings outstretched, the cormorant stood in the warm sunshine.  This is sort of like hanging clothes on a line to dry but it would really be awkward for a cormorant to remove its feathers!  The whole ordeal of drying out took about an hour.  Then, my friend took off for another fishing expedition.

  I was rather amused at the actions of the cormorant even though I have seen this many times before. The bird reminded me of a band leader during the Swing Era.  I grew up watching the Lawrence Welk Show with Mom and Pop and  I have a vague memory of this talented man holding his arms out much like the bird's wings. Someone, hand that bird a baton and lets see what happens! Yep, I am amused by the simplest of things.

The Soaking of a Good Bird!

It was another grey and foggy day here on the Bayou.  Other than a mass of birds at the feeders, there just was not a lot happening.  I did meander down to the pier about mid-morning just to take a gander at the water.  It has been a long week of inside projects and that water seemed to be calling me!  The Bay seemed quiet.  Pelicans were diving and a few mergansers were scooting along the marsh but nary a fish was breaking the water.  I could not find a single school of minnows to use as bait so fishing seemed hopeless. I would just have to wait a few more days to see if things improved.

As I stood there watching the mergansers, I noticed three heads pop up from under the waves.  These, at first, took me by surprise.  After just a moment, I recognized my friends the cormorants.  It has been a while since they visited the pier!  Usually, I can see them sitting on top of the posts airing out their wings but today, they were fishing.  I suppose they were having better luck than me as they kept diving.  Cormorants are one of the few "fishing" birds that do not have the oily-type feathers that ducks do.  Although they seem to get soaked after just a bit of hunting underwater, it never seems to bother them much.  The lack of preen oil is why they are most often seen with their wings spread as they roost on some sunny post.  This method of sunning allows all of their feathers to dry.

The cormorants today will most likely hang around the Bayou for the remainder of the winter.  They will scuffle with the pelicans for roosting spots on the old abandoned pier posts in the evening and will hunt for mullet and minnows during the day.  These birds never cease to put on a show for anyone who cares to sit and watch.  Me?  I will be there each day to view my friends and be amused by their antics.

Lost in the Fog

This morning at about 6AM, I made the usual "coffee mug in hand" trek to the pier. The fog was thick..so thick that it almost felt like a light rain was hitting my face as I walked down the board path. So thick that I could feel the heaviness of it pressing against my body. It is quite the eerie feeling to look out on the water when anything past twenty feet from you is totally blocked from view. I stared out over the marsh. I could barely make out an egret wading in the shallows and a cormorant diving for mullet. A lot of people would not have observed the sheer beauty of the scene..they would have only seen how the mist blocked out many of the objects that could normally be seen. The blankness of the Bay under the heavy coat of fog is how some approach life. Many will go through their entire life without ever seeing the beauty of what is given them. Not all are fortunate enough to awake to a peaceful Bayou scene, this is true but as I have stated before..your Paradise is where you make it. If you can find total peace wherever you are, then you have found your Paradise. It is not a place..instead, it is a state of mind. I used to so worry about my lot in life. I was not happy with where I was nor what I was doing. Then I realized that it was more that I was not happy because I was trying to be like everyone else. I was trying to "be" someone else. I was trying to be "liked" and to be this, I felt that I had to be a carbon copy of no one in particular but everyone in general..I had to be another face in the crowd. I just knew I could not be me. Then an earthshaking realization..I had to be ME! If no one liked me other than myself, it did not matter. I had to like me and I had to like me as me. The fog of my brain had been lifted and my Paradise was found. I became fully satisfied that happiness did not involve me "keeping up with the Joneses" but rather me coming back to Earth to be myself. Now, I am happy in my little corner of the world, doing my artwork and observing the peacefulness that has been granted to me. I may not have ended up exactly where I intended to be but, in truth, I am exactly where I am meant to be.

The egrets and cormorants that were surrounded by the fog this morning did not let their lot in life get them down. Face it..they live in a marsh and have to hunt for their meals. It is a fight for life every day. Regardless of this, they greet each morning with an exuberance such as none other. They know what and where they are supposed to be even if there is a heavy fog curtaining off the Bay. Birds are just somehow happy being themselves and do not try to "keep up with the Joneses"! Their view of life is so clear.

Busy Place

The Bayou was a busy place today what with the comings and goings of many shore birds. Most of these are not migratory, they just fly in and out with the food supply. The Bay is teeming with shrimp, menhaden and mullet making easy pickings for any hungry bird. The usual egrets and herons waded the shore lines, their heads bobbing up and down as they scooped up supper. On the swim were several different ducks and cormorants. The cormorants are strange birds, as they will fish for a while and then find a resting spot and dry their wings. A cormorant will bask in the sun with its wings outstretched for quite some time before heading back to fish again. Theposts on the pier are in high demand for roosting places for the gulls, pelicans and now the cormorants. I am thinking I should stick a few more posts and maybe a rail out just for the birds! Today's fishing was not just for the birds though, as the alligator made her appearance, too. She kept her distance but seemed to be eying any fish that I tossed back. I was glad to see her since it has been several weeks ago that I last saw her. I was beginning to fear for her life. It seems to be the going thing now to report any gator that moseys around the marsh. Then some "gator hunter" comes to get rid of the "rogue gator". These poor animals are just doing what comes natural to them by swimming, sunning and hunting. It is people that cause the problems by antagonizing the animals. I have lived here with these alligators for what seems like forever. They have not bothered me. They keep their distance as they are relatively shy creatures. Of course, I have sense enough to respect them and their territory. I have no problem with any gator living on my Bayou or with this one being near my pier. Today the crab traps were baited well with fish so I suppose that tonight she will visit under the pier to get her supper. Come morning light, my traps will all be upside down with the bait boxes empty. That is part of the charm of living where I do..you learn to live in harmony with nature not destroy it.