A "Bat", An Osprey and Lots of Gnats!

  I am beginning to think that the resident ospreys feel that they are just "part of the family" now.  The pair that hang near the pier and Bayou have pretty much lost all fear of me and will linger nearby as I photograph them.  At times, one or the other will also fly low over the pier as if to "check" on my wellbeing especially if I am still for too long.  Maybe I am reading too much into it but it feels as if we have made a connection somewhat.

  This morning, I left Bat, the cat, wallowing in a sandy spot near the marsh edge.  I have no idea of how to even explain the odd actions of this crazy animal so I just let him do his own thing.  As I ambled down the pier, I saw a large bird alight in the top of a pine tree just above where I left the cat.  Hmmm...wonder if that was an osprey or the redtail hawk?  The osprey would not be problematic but the hawk could possibly be.  Well, there was nothing else to do but head back to where I left Bat taking his "sand bath".  He would be completely oblivious if an aerial attack took place.  

  I eased my way along the marsh edge and was delighted to find that the bird was Friend Osprey.  The bird was on one of the lowest limbs of a scrubby pine tree in the edge of the marsh.  I soon was a mere 30ft from the bird with it being fully aware of my approach.  These birds miss nothing!  After a few loud screeches, my friend settled in to watch the cat play.  Neither would be a bother to the other.  I, on the other hand, was almost eaten alive by the swarm of gnats as I photographed the osprey.  Enough already!  I had to get back to the pier where there was a slight breeze.  Ugh...spring...while it is nice weather...it brings biting gnats!  Tons of biting gnats...but, at least, I had a short and sweet visit with Friend Osprey!

Bayou Weather....Foggy with gnats!

   We are back into our winter "cycle" of rain, cold, warm and fog.   The cycle has its good points and a few bad.  Just when you think you are all settled in for a nice bit of cold weather, the winds shift, temperatures rise and heavy fog lays in across the Bay.  The fog lingers for most of the day keeping things damp and muggy.  A good side to all of this fog and warmth, the garden is doing well.  Cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower and mustard greens are filling the rows nicely.  One of the bad sides, is gnats and mosquitoes never leave.  Just about the time you think they should be gone due to the chill, you are attacked!  Those are the days you find yourself wishing for a lovely freeze!

  This morning, a light fog shrouded the Bay and Bayou.  It blocked enough of the view to make things appear a bit spooky.  The "Bayou Creature" would love just such a morning to make an appearance!  But...he did not show.  Our Bayou Creature is just about as elusive as Big Foot!  The name is applied to any unusual wail or moan that can be heard coming from the bowels of the Bayou.  Far back where the Bayou meets a creek and turns into a swamp, any number of critters can let out yells that can run chills up your spine especially if you are roaming about in the predawn fog. 

  Years ago, the kids and I loved to hike through the swamps during foggy evenings.  Because our footsteps were muffled by the wet leaves, it was not uncommon for us to stumble upon critters out on the hunt.  Bobcats, coyotes, fox, coons and rabbits were often seen before they noticed us.  To my way of thinking, this was one of the best learning situations the kids could have ever experienced.  They grew up knowing how to react or how to "not act" when encountering wild animals.  Never once did we feel threatened and we respected the critters enough to back off and let them continue on their way. 

  No critters were found on this morning's hike.  It was short and sweet but I had work to do.  It was a fine morning to mulch more of the hurricane debris pile!  The weather was warm enough to work in short sleeves...until those pesky gnats found me!  Weather....Southern Weather....Bayou Weather!  When is that next cold snap??

The Big Favor

  Every now and again, we need to applaud the critter world for doing what they do best.  Each animal, fowl, insect, fish or whatever, does a remarkable job of being just that critter.  A lot of them can seem a tad scary at times but, when we really stop and watch them, they are not so "evil".  I will be the first to admit that I am not overly fond of spiders.  Garden spiders, house spiders and other non-venomous one don't bother me in the least but I do get a wee bit jumpy when it comes to ones like the Black Widow or Brown Recluse.  I was bitten by a Black Widow several years ago which might account for my disdain for the critters.  Others, though, are quite interesting when it comes down to it. I watch spiders just like other folks do birds.

  Mark and I were on the pier the other morning to watch the sunrise. The gnats were terrible!  It felt like we were being eaten alive.  We were heading back up the pier to make our escape when he noticed a rather large spiderweb stretched between the pier posts.  It hung low almost to the water's surface and spanned a good four feet.  We stood watching the spider for some time all the while scratching ourselves like a couple of flea-infested mutts!  (For being so tiny, those gnats can cause some itching!)  

  The spider earned my full respect that morning.  As we watched, it caught gnats and instantly devoured a good number of them. The others were wrapped in silk and stowed up under the pier boards for a midday snack.That web held strong and caught hundreds and hundreds of gnats!  It takes a brave spider to dangle itself over the water like that.  The tide was rising and within a short time, the area would be underwater. The least bit of wind could have ripped the web and sent the spider tumbling into the murky water or even a hungry fish could have jumped the few inches to nab the critter if it so desired.  But the spider braved all odds to do us the wonderful favor of eliminating at least some of the gnats!  Yep, I do, indeed, like this spider!  

For the want of better camera skills....

I take a lot of pictures.  Most days, I will snap around eighty to a hundred photographs of everything from the sunrise to the sunset....and all sorts of things in between the two.  I just find nature and life in general quite fascinating and, thus, feel the need to record all that is around me.  There is just too much happening out there in my little portion of the world that a lot of people never see or perhaps never want to see.  Folks are far too involved in this so-called rat race thing that a lot of living is passing by without them ever realizing it.  So, that said, I suppose I have appointed myself the task of photographing everything that I deem worthy of recording...and that is, well...everything.  Life is just far too amazing to ever let any of it just slip by without being observed.  Maybe someday, I will take an earth-shaking picture that will change all of humanity but I seriously doubt it.  I will merely be happy if one of my photographs brings just one smile to one person.  That...would mean that my efforts have been successful.

Yep..all of those white dots were gnats! They sure are hard to photograph!

Today while on our trek around the hillside and down to the end of the pier, Ms. Ezzy and I were engulfed by hoards of gnats.  It seems that the warming of the sun had made them all slap-happy and they were determined to show us just how elated they were to see us.  (That..or they were just very hungry and viewed the us as a potential easy meal!)  Anyway, it occurred to me that taking a picture of gnats is probably not something high on many folk's priority lists.  Perhaps it should be...then, again..perhaps not. Still, I tried.  I found that even with my best efforts, gnat photographing is not easy..especially when they are swarming.  The speed at which these little rascals were moving was far quicker than my camera shutter.  No matter how I tried, the gnats seemed to be blurs or at best streaks.

When you enlarge the picture, the gnats start to look like strange alien beings!  Their movement through the air makes them take on all sorts of shapes when photographed!

After wasting a good bit of time...err..taking a lot of pictures, I decided that this might just be a lost cause.  The world would never have a clear picture of a gnat!  I know that this fact might be upsetting to a lot of folks but it just cannot be done!  At least with my camera and photography skills, it is a definite challenge!  Once inside, I looked at the pictures that I took and was not in the least "pleasantly surprised" at their quality.  I enlarged one of them enough to see the individual gnats and stared at the blips in the picture.  I have seen these somewhere before!  Thinking back several months..or maybe years ago, I seem to recall some profound "new" species of bug found in some remote cave by some amateur spelunkers.  Their "new" bug had a great resemblance to my gnat.  The "aha!" moment hit me...I suppose I could pass these pictures off as a new species to any gullible folks out there!  My common gnat appears to be some weird and wonderful critter!  Some seem to be multi-legged while others have strange wings.  Why..even a few of them look a lot like the starships in some science fiction movie!  My photography skills may lack but the imagination sure does not!  Gnats...those ordinary pests that we all wish would just go away, look like small wonders of the world when viewed in this way.  I do believe I should attempt this feat again some day!  Perhaps in the future, I will figure out a way of getting a clear picture of the bug but in the meantime, I think I will just enjoy the sheer beauty of them in blurry flight!  (At least, they were not biting me!)

Sign of the Times!

The weather on the Bayou has been beautiful for the past few days. Old Man Winter must be on vacation somewhere up in the mountains as here the temperatures hover between just above freezing at night to a nice balmy sixty degrees during the daytime hours. For me, this is the perfect weather to get the gardens in order. My seed order is in the mail and I am looking forward to a nice, large package to be delivered here within the next couple of weeks. Garden time! I know that I am most likely pushing it with planting so early but the seeds are to be sown in the hotbed and that should most likely keep them from freezing. There is just one problem with this warm spell..gnats! Those lovely "No-see-ums" that feast upon any exposed skin and have an affinity for the eyes, nose and mouth! Still wearing the long-sleeved sweatshirts, I am not worried about the bites..it is that aggravating cloud of bugs that irritate the eyes, that gets to me! Just when I get my hands nice and dirty or when I am scooping cow poop into the garden, one of those boogers will get in my eye! Now that is just the most devious thing a bug could possibly do! Bite me..don't aggravate me!

Today, however, I smelled smoke as I was raking more of the leaves from the garden area. I sniffed the air..well, that could be the leftover remnants of my warming fire from this morning. I sniffed again. The wind should be blowing the smoke away from me if it was from my fireplace! I walked around the side of the house to explore the source of the smoke. Ahhh..yep! Just as I thought! In the middle of my brother's yard, a small cast iron stove happily chugged out the smoke. If anyone had seen this, they would have surely wondered just why he had the fireplace out in the middle of the yard..but I am "in the know"! This was not a warming fire..this was a smudge! This was a gnat-killer! One thing people that live on the Bayou and surrounding areas know is that gnats do not like smoke! Anyone who has lived in these parts for a goodly number of years knows about smudges. These smudges are not to be confused with smudge pots that are use in citrus orchards to prevent the fruit from freezing..smudges are not at all hot enough to do that! A smudge is a small, slow-burning fire that is started most like any other fire but has some fuel added to make it smoke profusely. Most folks around here, simply grab a handful of green grass, weeds or leaves and toss on the fire. The soft green leaves do not burn because of the water content in them. They smoke...A LOT! The smoke from my brother's smudge quickly filled not only his yard but mine as well. The gnats that were attacking me decided that enough was enough and they flew for parts unknown. I was able to finish my gardening chores in peace!