Windy Days, High Tides and Silly Birds!

   For the past few days, there has been some sort of weather system in the Gulf that has been pounding us with strong easterly winds that pushed the water way up higher than usual.  This high tide presented its share of problems with securing the skiff and with knocking loose a few of the pier boards.  Thankfully, none of the boards were lost as they were simply washed over to my brother's yard.  Once the tide recedes, they will be hauled back and another attempt at finishing the repairs will take place.  This was damage from Hurricane Zeta last fall and here we are looking at another system already.  The hurricane season was started a month early to compensate for what the forecasters are calling a "busy" year.  Great.  Just great.

  Not all is bad with the wind and high tides.  At least, there are no gnats as those rascals have been blown to parts unknown.  That is fine by me.  Now if the wind could possibly do something about the mosquitoes and deer flies, I would be one happy camper.  Speaking of happy campers, the egrets are taking full advantage of the tide being pushed well into the yard.  With the high tide, small fish and minnows are also up well into the yard.  The egrets and herons are "wade-fishing" on the grass!  While Son and I watched several egrets were snapping up minnows and, Moe, the Great Blue Heron awkwardly chased a mullet that had somehow found its way onto the grass. The birds were getting plenty to eat today!

  The tide will be up until the storm goes inland then, hopefully, things will settle down a bit.  It has been a windy week and I am ready for a change.  I have a lot of chores needing to be done that just cannot be safely tended with tropical storm force winds whipping about the place all day.  Until then, I will sit back, enjoy the gnatless days and the show put on by the birds.  

Wearing the Finest!

  After working all day yesterday, Son and I were picking up our tools when, suddenly, I saw a flock of birds!  Son always tells me that I have a very short attention span and that I am easily amused so it was no small wonder that I had to hustle down to the pier to investigate.  I figured that these had to be egrets since they were white but I had never seen so many flock together!  Easing my way down the board path, I was careful not to flush the birds from their spot.  I wanted to get past the groundsel bushes so a clear photograph could be taken.  I needn't have fretted.  This flock of thirty or so birds (half on the pier, half in the marsh) was not going anywhere!  They were intent on resting a bit.  I was able to get within about forty feet from the flock.  There, I sat in awe.  The birds were gorgeous!  Their gleaming white feathers were offset by pinkish gold crowns, chest and back feathers!  Oh, my!

  When I saw the colors, it was immediately evident that these were visitors to the Bayou.  Once a year, flocks of Cattle Egrets fly in just to let me admire their breeding plumage! (At least, I figure that is why they come!...Oh, yeah. Son says I have a very vivid imagination, too, but we won't go there, now will we?)  There were twenty-nine Cattle Egrets and one Snowy Egret in this flock.  Wait! What?  Why was that Snowy in there??  

  The birds allowed me to visit without worry.  Then, suddenly, half of them hopped down into the marsh and started searching for fiddler crabs or insects (I could not decide which).  As I watched the last few hopped one by one to join the others.  They made no effort to go any further than just off the pier and did not seem to mind that I shifted positions occasionally to swipe away mosquitoes and gnats.  

  The flock of Cattle Egrets stayed overnight on the pier then headed off into the back of the Bayou.  I suppose the stormy weather urged them on their way as it was not long before the pier was underwater and the winds were pounding the Bayou.  I am thankful for the time I got to spend watching the birds and viewing their incredible beauty.  If I ever again hear anyone say "Oh, those are JUST Cattle Egrets.", I will likely whip out the photos and prove to them that the birds are stunningly beautiful.  I am glad they graced the Bayou with their presence even though it was a short-lived visit.  See you next year, Pretty Birds!  I look forward to seeing you dressed in your Easter finery!

Friends Stick Together

  I could stand it no longer.  Being cooped up is not for me.  I decided to brave the cold and take a good long hike about the place.  Mr. PJ, the old dog, decided to decline the offer of a two hour walk and preferred his cozy bed.  I, on the other hand, needed to escape the confines of the Little Bayou House and breathe.  I stoked the woodstove, closed down the damper and donned the jacket.  I was out of here!

  To kill two birds with one stone (as if I was ever inclined to kill a bird), I headed far back behind the house and into the woods.  Combining a hike and chores is always a good thing!  A couple of days earlier, I had spied some logs that would make great firewood.  Those were hauled to the house to be cut.  Then, I was free to head to the marshes and pier.  Not much was happening at the marsh edge but the mudflats by the pier were full of activity.  Five birds were feeding along the shallows and put on quite the show.  One Great Blue Heron, three Tri-colored Herons and one Snowy Egret performed an exquisite ballet while trying to catch small minnows.  The Great Blue kept his distance from the others but the Tri-colors and Snowy worked together to catch their prey.  It seemed that one Tri-color was particularly fond of hunting with the Snowy and never let much distance get between them. 

 

  The birds used a rather unusual tactic to flush the minnows.  They would sort of hop, skip and pounce instead of using a stealth approach.  All four of the smaller birds were using this technique.  One would spread its wings as if to take off in flight, make a mere "hop" into the air, land a few feet away and then bob for the kill.  The Tri-color and Snowy seemed to be collaborating their methods and sharing their take.  It was a rather unique experience to sit and watch this show.  

  The shorebirds are taking full advantage of the winter tides and are working the mudflats to their advantage.  With the low, low tide, the flats are extensive giving the birds a wider choice of hunting grounds.  They need this extra nutrition to survive the bitter cold that we have had this week.  It seems that the struggle for survival has made friends out of strangers.  Seeing the birds all working for a common goal sure made me wish that people would do the same.  No wonder I love my critter friends so much.

The Congregation is Growing!

  Yesterday, two cattle egrets and one great egret sat on the pier in the warm sunshine.  They did the all too familiar "one-legged" stance and made quite the impressive sight.  I was happy to see them there even though they do..umm..mess up the place somewhat.  That does not bother me as a good rainstorm cleans the old pier boards rather well.  

  Today, the egrets returned but a few new members had joined the congregation!  (For those curious, yes, a group of egrets is often referred to as a "congregation".)  This time, the original trio were there but three snowy egrets had come to share the space.  While my brother's pier has been the common roost for pelicans, it seems that ours is the choice of egrets.  Nice!

  It is not uncommon for a variety of herons and egrets to share a common resting spot but they are not gathering for any particular reason.  The convenience of the place in accordance to a food supply is more likely the reason for this congregating.  The birds will share a nesting ground simply due to the fact that there is safety in numbers.  Egrets are vulnerable to disruptions by humans during their breeding/nesting period, however.  The birds have been known to abandon nests purely due to human presence under their nest sites.  The back of the Bayou used to be home to a heronry of quite some size but the building of new homes on the opposite shore disrupted the birds.  Most left the area.  A few have moved to a more secluded area near where the creek feeds into the Bayou far behind the Little Bayou House.  This area is completely shut off from "progress" as it is surrounded by the woods of our property.  It is my hope that the birds will feel safe enough there to continue their nesting.  Perhaps my congregation can return to its full glory of several hundred of these elegant birds!

Leaving a Space for Critters

The egrets around the Bayou tend to stick together when resting.  They nest in huge rookeries back in the creek.  At certain times (if you are lucky), you can see hundreds of the birds perched high in the trees. This is a matter of protecting each other since if one sounds the alarm, all will know.  While hiking, coming across such a fine sight as good number of large, white birds is exciting.  There is just a bit of a thrill knowing that you are seeing such a marvel. The egrets are quite often preening themselves and, at times, the downy soft plumes will float to the ground like some wispy snowflake. 

  The rookery in our creek is probably nearing its end due to the influx of humans in the area.  Houses are being built on the opposite side of the Bayou so trees are being cut at a rapid rate.  It makes me sad to think it could be the end of an era for the birds...and me, in a sense.  I love the critters of the Bayou and the loss of even one hurts me.  Let that loss be due to human intrusion and it makes me even sadder.  It will not be long before there is not a lot of wooded areas left for wildlife to claim as their own.  When the birds feel they are in peril by the encroachment of people, they will leave.  

  Mark and I try to leave as much of our property as a place for critters. Our creek has not been touched for years just so the birds and other critters can live in peace.  Hopefully, it will encourage the critters to stay.  Hopefully.

Into the Wind

  Mark and I were on the pier the other day when he noticed some egrets standing near the Bayou. Since he was toting my camera, he took several photographs of the birds for me.  Since the egrets were quite a distance from us, we could not even identify what type of egret they were.  We just knew that the setting sun was gleaming on their white plumage making them even more beautiful than normal.  We did notice that the whole row of maybe seven or eight birds were all facing the same way...into the wind.  Now that was strange!

  After a bit, I started thinking about our row of birds.  Why in the world would a group of birds stand facing into the wind?  If I was out there in the freezing cold and a stiff north wind was bearing down on me, I would seek some sort of windbreak. If the birds had just moved a couple of hundred feet to the west and hugged the shoreline, the tall marsh grass would have blocked a good bit of that wind.  Then again, perhaps they felt safer out in the middle of the mudflat.  Not many predators could sneak up on them out there in the open.  But, why were they all facing north?  After a bit, I turned away from the birds to look toward the south.  My long hair immediately got in my eyes obscuring my vision.  Ahhh, ok.  Now the enigma makes sense.  I imagine that the birds were facing north so their feathers were not being ruffled by the stiff wind thus keeping them much warmer.  Ok, so birds are smart.  

  There is still the question of why the birds were standing in a row, though.  Perhaps they were standing according to rank...who knows? Nope, I have that one figured out as well. The north wind had blown most of the water out of the Bay and nigh on all of the water from parts of the Bayou. Only a small rivulet trickled from the back of the Bayou. All of the birds were standing along the edge of this tiny stream.  These smart egrets were snatching up any minnows that were trying to escape to deeper water. 

  Ahh, the mysteries of the Bayou! We shall solve them one by one! Today's mystery of why egrets face the wind and stand in rows has been explained!  

Watching the Critters

  Sometimes critters are better at being neighborly than people are.  Not that I have any problems whatsoever with my neighbors as I have the best but critters seem to just get along when need be.  It is a rare animal that kills for the sake of killing. Yes, they do have a tendency to see everything as a food source but even that can be overcome at times.

  Now while I realize that shorebirds do not usually go around eating each other, it surprises me how they can work together for the good of all.  Herons and egrets are great at cooperating during feeding time.  I watched two egrets, a Great Egret and a Snowy Egret, while they worked the mudflats to find breakfast.  Tiny bull minnows were darting about in the shallows but it took the two birds working together to catch a fine feast. The Great White Egret would stand casting a shadow on the waters while the Snowy shuffled its feet to stir up the mud.  The minnows would then try to get to clearer water and both birds would snatch them in swift jabs.  Alongside of the two larger birds, a small rail waded snatching her share of fiddler crabs that raced to get away from all of the commotion.  This was not an accidental meeting of the minds. These three birds are on the flats with every low tide.  They work together as a team and all three eat well as a result.

   I am constantly hearing the phrase "that person is no better than an animal" when folks are discussing some recent crime spree. This irks me as I do not feel this is accurate.  Seeing how humans seem to be the most aggravating and unruly of all species, it might be a good idea if we all took lessons from the critters.  Perhaps if more folks took the time to truly sit and watch the critters around them, they would strive to be more "neighborly".

     It is calming to be out in nature, Folks!  It is good for you.   Plus, you might just learn a thing or two if you do watch the critters....any critters.

Rookery, Heronry or Colony??

Back a few years ago, the Snowy Egrets would gather in large masses across the Bayou. Here they would mate, build nests and brood their young. Sometimes the trees were filled with these beautiful birds..all wearing the breeding plumage. This was always such an amazing sight. I would try to take as many pictures as I could but this was back before I had my zoom lens for the camera. I could not do the view justice. Still, it was a thrill just seeing them congregating in the treetops.

Then progress..houses were built across the Bayou at the very site that the birds nested each year. I worried that they would move far away and I would never see them en masse again. This saddened me. After the construction began, I did not see my feathered friends other than along the shoreline or on my pier occasionally. I wondered where they moved. Finally this year, I noticed a few gathering in the back of the Bayou where it turns into the creek. I watched. Sure enough what started out as two or three soon turned into seven or eight and more. They nested there this Spring and reared a number of little ones. I was in hopes that this would become their new rookery.

Today..I noticed something a bit unusual for this time of year. The Snowy Egrets were gathering in the creek again. Surely, they are not nesting now! This evening, I watched as bird after bird flew into the trees growing near the creekbed. More and more birds followed suit and soon the trees were ornamented with the white-plumed birds. I pondered this and have about come to the conclusion that it has something to do with the recent storm. Perhaps they needed to regroup after being blown about a bit. Who knows??? It doesn't really matter to me why they are congregating..I am just glad that they are home!

A congregation of Herons..(this includes all Egrets)..for nesting purposes is called a rookery, heronry or colony. The most common being the rookery..which is sort of amusing since a gathering of rooks is also a rookery! Most of the time, Herons (Egrets) are solitary birds. Only at breeding and nesting times are they social birds. Then they even congregate with other types of Herons..the Blues, Greens, Bitterns and other Egrets. That is what is rather confusing about their behavior now..if it is not nesting season, why the gathering?

Flights of Fancy

I was thinking today about things that fly and just how hard it is to actually get a clear photograph of things in flight. At least it is difficult for me as I seem to have problems keeping up with them! I can get them in focus and before the button is pressed..their gone! Poof! I was trying to photograph a beautiful Red Tail Hawk but before getting the camera focused well, it was so far up that it appeared as a little dot. Not exactly the picture that I had in mind. So I went back in some of my pictures to see just how many "on the wing" pictures I have actually succeeded in taking with some clarity. Not many! I had a few but it seems that all I can get are blurs! Flashes of color zooming by me at warp speed! Now I admit that I am getting up there a tad in age but this is ridiculous! I should be able to press a button in the time it takes a bird to fly a few thousand feet!!!!

This first one is a Seagull that was diving after some minnows in the Bay. The picture is clear enough as you can see the feathers quite well. The problem..it has no head!!! From the angle that I was taking the shot, the head is not visible at all..MY BIRD IS HEADLESS! This will never do! Birds most definitely need heads!

Then I caught this Pelican! Or almost caught this pelican in flight! It came crashing in for a landing creating the biggest splash imaginable! I often wonder about the Pelican's method of fishing but it works as this one succeeded in catching a nice size mullet!

There are these two! I am not sure that you can call this flying..it is more like jumping awkwardly! At least this was slow enough for me to catch the leap! These two were on the pier when one decided that the view from the bench would be better..that was until I decided that my bench needed to stay clean and shooed it away!

Here we have Cormorants on the wing! A trio was flying over early one morning but they appear as silhouettes. The lighting was not the best as the sun had not risen yet. At least I did keep them in range!

This young Osprey looks more like it was falling off its perch than flying in for a landing! At its young age, perhaps its flying was about as steady as my aerial photography!

This is the type shot that I love getting! This Osprey came in right above my head and screamed the whole way. It was as if the bird was telling me to get my camera ready! Maybe it really wanted a "glamour shot"!

The Egrets here were across the Bayou so the distance thing was not really my fault! I do not have a particularly strong zoom lens so most of my shots need to be relatively close. I do love the way the three of them are in all different stages of flight..from landed to full flight!

The Night Skimmer is so quick that it is hard to photograph. Also, the lighting is never optimal as their name suggests..they hunt more in the evening hours. This one was coming straight for me on the pier so I was able to get a good focus on it!

I love this picture! The Little Blue Heron made the mistake of landing in a tree a bit to close to the Red Winged Blackbird's nest! The Blackbird was attacking from all angles and actually succeeded in driving off the much larger bird!

Finally! A great shot of a Pelican in flight! This picture was taken early this Spring and is one of my favorites! The huge bird was just taking off from the water and was headed right for me! So incredible!

Another hard bird to photograph in flight is the Hummingbird. The sheer speed at which they fly makes it difficult to catch them on the wing! This one was hovering near the feeder as it tried to fend off any newcomers. I was lucky enough to be at the right spot at the right time!

This Osprey was high but the lighting was prefect. It was soaring above the Bayou hunting for its supper late one afternoon. It did not stay long but at least one shot came out well.

This last one..yeah..I know it is not an "in flight" shot but this young Eagle thrilled me enough that its picture had to go in here somewhere! I always get excited when the Eagles make their appearance on the Bayou! They are so majestic!

The Dance

This afternoon, I had the privilege to be in the audience of perhaps one of the most beautiful dance recitals in the world. Sometimes breathtaking things happen right in front of our eyes and if we are wise enough, we realize that we are seeing something extraordinary. Today's dance was just that.. extraordinary! The tide was out..way out..leaving the Bayou relatively devoid of water. The tidepools that were remaining were simply alive with trapped fish and minnows. This made for a perfect feeding opportunity for the shore birds. I was watching as the herons, gulls, kingfishers and egrets caught their fill. Happy birds! Or were they so happy. Two of them bobbed and weaved around each other like two performers on a stage. The graceful leaps and wing flapping caused quite a stir in the marshes. At first, I thought there was a squabble over a mullet or shrimp, but then it occurred to me that this was not fight. This was a dance..a lovely dance. These two were doing a ritualistic dance..a mating dance. Then I started thinking .."It is not the season for this!" But they continued to dance until suddenly the entire group became startled and in unison vaulted into the air. After making a large circle around the Bayou, they settled back down but this time just out of my range of view. Curious as to why this dance took place in the Fall instead of the nesting season of early Spring, I came in to do a bit of research. I found that the Snowy Egret is monogamous. They tend to choose a mate and stay together with both raising the young. I did not know this but it does explain the dance of the egrets. These were young egrets, perhaps just a bit over a year old, so next Spring, I will have to look for an nest of blue eggs in a tree over the Bayou. I also learned that years ago these beautiful birds were almost hunted to extinction for their plumage. Now since laws were passed to protect them, they have made a comeback. Also..one cool, little fact about the Snowy Egret is that it has jet black legs that end in bright yellow feet!