Hope Returns

   Early this morning after a drizzly rain, I slipped out into the small gardens to see if any of my newly planted seeds had sprouted.  I am late getting the plots ready since I am on "light duty" for the rest of this year.  No digging means no rows which, in turn, means no gardens. Still, where there's a will...there is usually a way so I did the next best thing of planting without well turned soil.  Armed with a trowel and a small hand rake, I planted.  Now we shall wait and see if the feeble efforts turn into something durable.  

  The garden, however, was not the highlight of my early morning traipsing.  Again, that light duty is also tied tightly with limits as to where I can go unaccompanied.  The pier (also known as "my favorite sunrise place") is definitely out of my realm but that does not mean that I cannot edge my way to the clearing where I can view the length of the path and pier.  I did and I saw an old friend just waiting at this end of where the pier starts.  A Great White Egret was resting while watching the mudflats for anything she could have for breakfast.  This is a bird that I named "Hope" several years ago when the whole country was in the midst of the COVID scare.  That was the same time that I had a stroke and was bound to the Small Gardens for the duration of my recovery.  (Much the same as now but for different reasons.)  Hope and I got to know each other rather well since I was deemed a "non-threat".  She would come to visit each day and we would while away an hour or so just being together.  Neither of us made much effort to "tame" the other but it was like we had an understanding.  Now...she is back.

  Hope looked a little worse for wear after the stormy weather of the past few days. Her feathers were ruffled and she looked tired...much like me.  I am not sure the bird recognized me after my absence but there was no forgetting her.  She helped me before and I almost got the feeling she understood my plight once again as she came a bit closer to where I was sitting.  There, we visited...me on the upturned old boat on shore while she stopped about twenty feet from me.  We stayed...I talked...she listened and watched for bull minnows in the marsh.  Good friends are like that.  Good friends just care.

Stealth Fishing!

   Earlier today, I gathered together a bunch of table scraps to put out for the critters.  With the cold, rainy weather we are having, the critters are extremely appreciative of the easy meal.  I only wish I had enough to set out a buffet for all of them.  While I was scattering the pecan hulls, fruit peels and other goodies, a flash of white caught my eye.  Down by the pier, a gorgeous Great White Egret was working the mudflats.  That bird was smart!  The tide had been pushed far out from the marsh leaving only tiny puddles on the flats.  Thousands of tiny bull minnows had become trapped in the inch deep puddles.   They would have been fine had they not come out to bask in the few moments of sunshine.   Normally, these tiny minnows can hide in the soupy mud and escape the certain death that awaits at the whim of the bird.  That sunshine and its warmth lured the minnows to clear water and that meant their demise. 

  The Great White Egret is a stealth hunter meaning that it can stand motionless until the minnows are within range.  Then with precise aim, the daggerlike beak is plunged down and the bird enjoys a fishy lunch.  This afternoon, the bird could be seen catching minnow after minnow.  Its belly will be full tonight and that will help ward off the cold.  After snapping a few photos, I scurried back to the warmth of the Little Bayou House and left my critter friends to enjoy their meals.