The Fishing Bird

  This afternoon, I had to escape the Little Bayou House so the old dog and I headed to the pier.  Neither of us had much energy as the heat zapped us.  I found a shady place for him to rest beneath the fish-cleaning sink while I tried to fish.  He seemed to enjoy his own little "canopy" as he watched a green heron trying to catch minnows.  At first, I did not notice what the bird was doing but on closer inspection, I realized that the green heron was fishing...literally fishing.  Green herons are some of the smartest birds on the Bayou.  They have figured out how to use tools to catch their supper.  

  This bird was ripping small pieces of marsh grass to toss in the water.  Minnows, thinking it was something good to eat, gathered in a cluster.  The heron dropped down to a "stringer" on the pier and eyed the minnows until they were in range.  It then plunged into the water, grabbed a fish and flew back up to the pier.  I was surprised to see this plunging technique.  I knew they used bait or, in this case, artificial lures but never have I witnessed the plunging.  The usual technique has the bird stalking the fish in shallow water not diving off the pier into four feet of water!

  Since I was catching nothing but catfish, I quit fishing and sat by the old dog.  Together, we watched to green heron catch a dozen or so minnows before it was time to head back up the hillside.  Mr. PJ lumbered up the pier and caused to bird to take flight.  Hopefully, it already had its belly full!

Slowly I turn...step by step...

  There used to be an old vaudeville act where one of the actors recounts an incident of revenge he took on an enemy.  A trigger phrase or word sets the narrator into a state of frenzy where instead of just telling the story, he acts on his foul deed. In mid attack, the storyteller comes to his senses only to fall back into the trance when hearing the word again. His poor listener is quite beat up by the time the skit ends.  While my tale today, has nothing to do with vaudeville, revenge or even trigger words, it is what came to mind as I watched a bird hunting its breakfast.

  Slowly, I turn...step by step...and I snatch another bull minnow from the shallows!  A little Green Heron was working the pools left on the mudflats.  The recent bout of north wind had pushed the tide far out from the shore and trapped hundreds of minnows.  This is a boon for the shorebirds as the trapped minnows are easy prey.  The Green Heron eased its way around the edge of the puddle of water.  These are "fishing" birds in the true sense as they actually use bait.  With each slow step, the heron would pick up its particle of fiddler crab, toss it a wee bit then take a very slooow step.  It foot would slowly rise out of the water, stay in mid air for a bit then ever so slowly sink back into the water.  Slowly I step...

  The bird show went on for quite some time as the little guy filled his belly with the fat minnows.  It was quite comical to watch the bird and once I made the connection with the old vaudeville sketch, I was even more amused. The Bayou is a great place to be entertained!