The Little Visitor!

  Sometimes things I find about the Bayou just make me smile.  It is not an easy life for the critters that live in and around the marshes as predators lurk around every corner.  It is hard for any of the critters to ever reach maturity since baby animals are easy targets.  This goes for both mammals and birds.  Before the youngsters can defend themselves, more oft than not, it is the mother that has to defend her brood.   Other little ones are left alone for hours at a time which opens them to attack quite often.  Predators of all types are hunting for an easy meal and those unattended tykes fit the ticket.  So it is always a happy moment when I happen across a youngster dabbling about the Bayou.  This means that life will go on for at least a while longer.

  This morning, Ms. Ez, the Bayou Dog, and I headed to the pier bright and early.  For the past few morns, it has been unseasonably cool making our adventures even more pleasant.  As we headed down the board path, Ms. Ez's ears perked up telling me that some critter was near.  My eyes were having a bit of difficulty with the morning's bleak lighting to find what she knew was there.  I slowed the pace so we would not frighten whatever was afoot.  This slow pace gave Old Mr. Sun just enough time to throw a few rays of light across the marsh.  The pier was lit enough for me to see just who our visitor was.  Ahhh, a young lad of a Yellow-crowned Night Heron stood gazing back at me!  What a beauty this fellow was!  The juvenile still wore his speckled plumage that told me that he was of this summer's hatchings.  Such a strong young bird was he!

  The Yellow-crowned Night Herons are some of my favorite of the wetlands birds.  They are easily befriended and will actually allow themselves to be handfed.  This makes my visits to the pier delightful! Even Ms. Ez behaves herself as to allow the bird to come nearer.  She knows that if she jumps or bounds the bird will take flight.  That means no extra treats of menhaden for her as well being as I reward her for her patience.  Usually, the Yellow-crowned Night Herons dine upon the fiddler crabs that inhabit the mudflats but they are not above begging for a free handout of menhaden. 

  My early morning encounter was the highlight of my day.  Any little tyke that survives the perils of the Bayou gives hope that life will continue.  It also is a sure sign that the Bayou is healthy and has an abundant food supply.  This little fellow also means that I will have another beggar hanging about the pier!

Keeping the eyes open!

  While on the pier, we noticed that the small gator was edging closer and closer.  This little guy raids the crab traps for his supper and he had no time for silly humans to be in the way.  I figure that if we hang around long enough, he will soon decide that we mean no harm and will come on in to eat while we are watching.  We were not the only ones watching that critter though.  Our friendly Night Heron had flown to a nearby post to wait for handouts.  I am not sure if the bird had even noticed the gator at first but all too soon, it was a tad nervous.  Even though the bird was perched high above the water and out of reach of the gator, it kept a wary eye on the critter.  It was just last summer that another Night Heron made the unfortunate choice of roosting low on my brother's pier and was snatched by a larger gator.  Supper had been served.  It is quite amazing how an alligator can maneuver itself up and out of the water to catch a bird!

   It was an almost comical scene as the Night Heron kept tabs on the gator.  When it landed on the post, it was facing the opposite direction of the critter.  The bird would nervously look over its shoulder and then back towards us.   It definitely wanted to swoop down to pier-level and try to con us out of our bait.  This bird loves the menhaden handouts that it receives when it visits.  I guess I am just a sucker for these friendly birds as I will hand-feed them all of our bait if given a chance!

  This is a Yellow-crowned Night Heron.  It was not too very long ago that these birds were hunted. The breasts of the young birds were thought to be a delicacy.  Hunters would raid the nests for the juvenile birds and sometimes wipe out an entire rookery.  This put the population of the birds in the danger zone so now it is unlawful to kill them.  This law makes me happy as I like the birds.  The Yellow-crowned Night Heron is one of the few wild birds that can be easily coaxed to be friends.  All it takes is a good bit of patience and a bucketful of menhaden to make a lifelong friend.  Every summer the birds come back to visit and it seems as if they remember our rendezvous!  

  Keep your eyes open, Little Yellow-crown!  Watch that gator!  Don't fall prey to him and I will make sure that you have an easy meal on hand.

New Kid on the Bayou!

The saying is usually a "new kid on the block" but when you live like I do..well, there is no "block" so the Bayou has to suffice!  There is a good share of demise on the Bayou as with any area where wildlife is left to its own.  Critters come..critters go......some just go a bit more violently than others.  Death is just another part of life.  The cycle of life for critters on the Bayou is rough and sometimes short.  That said, I will move on to happier things!  Today was a day of celebration of life.  A fresh face visited me on the pier! This was its second coming as a few days ago, Mark and I saw the young bird.  At that time, the bird did appear hungry.  Not having the net handy, there was little we could do so the bird went on its way.  Today, the youngster was back and so hungry!  This time, the net was on the pier and with a little work on my part, the bird had supper!  This one was not like the usual Green Herons or Snowy Egrets that have been coming for the past few months.  Today's bird was leery of my attempts to feed it but I am supposing that hunger can overcome fear as eventually, the bird did eat.  Since it would not come near me, I had to be happy with watching from quite a distance.  If the bird comes to know that I am a ready food source, I am sure that we will be friends before long.

Juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night Heron coming for handouts!

It is hard to pinpoint a definite species of bird when the bird is still wearing its juvenile plumage.  A good many birds look so similar at this age.   The speckled feathers are predominate in youngsters as it gives them a perfect camouflage in the marsh.  At night, the markings will also provide protection as the young bird roosts in the treetops.  This one, however, is a juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night Heron.  My first bird friend on the pier was a juvenile Yellow-Crown and since then, each year a new little one adopts the pier as a feeding station.  During the summer and early fall, I do not have visits from the adult Yellow-Crown but come winter, my old friend will return.  I am assuming that as the colder weather sets in, the food supply becomes short and the bird knows that I will supplement its diet with minnows.   The adult Yellow-Crowned Night Heron is still my favorite of the visitors to the pier.  It is the only one that feels fully comfortable enough to eat from my hand without reservation.  The bird and I go back a long way..we have been friends for nearly five years now.  The lifespan of a Night Heron is usually about six years so we have been interacting for most of its life. I have an inkling that the juveniles that come to visit are offspring of my friend.  I can just imagine the adult bird instructing its little one to "go to the pier..that lady will feed you!"...and I will.  It does seem that my menagerie is growing!  The birds just keep coming!

All Grown!

It is sort of strange to watch friends go from tiny infants to full grown adults. Sometimes this happens in just a matter of months here on the Bayou. By friends, I am referring to some of the critters that roam the area. I feel that I am a kindred spirit with most of the wildlife here as we both live and breathe the Bayou! It is our life!

Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

One such friend is the Yellow-crowned Night Heron. This is one of the wild birds that I can hand-feed as they have no fear of me. Maybe they just look upon me as a free meal instead of a friend but I am thrilled that they trust me to that point. This hand-feeding is not a steady thing since I do not want them to lose all fear of humans but it still excites me to no end to have one take a shrimp from my fingertips.

Young Night Heron hunting for grasshoppers!

I watched this juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron from the time it started roaming around in the lower yard. Obviously, the mother had plopped it down and told it to stay put knowing that there would be a steady supply of foodstuffs in the area. At first, the little thing survived off of the grasshoppers and katydids that it could catch in the grassy areas of the yard. It did not venture into the marsh nor on the pier. It would hang around the palmetto clumps as this was an easy escape from any impending danger. I almost expected it to fall prey to the Red-tailed hawk, a fox or a bobcat. It did not..it was a survivor!

Young adult Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

Late summer to early fall, it occasionally moved off onto the pier and surrounding areas but still hunted the grasses for insects. It would shuffle its feet in the tall grasses trying to flush out a possible meal. This is the only one of the shorebirds that I have seen scouring the lawn for insects..most are out wade-fishing or tending the mudflats. This is the only one of the Yellow-crowned Night Herons that seems to have a predilection for insects. All of the others seem to have a marked fondness for seafood! Is this Night Heron confused? Or is it just smart? Hunting for insects sometimes seems a tad easier than trying to spear a fish! Hunt on, my friend..hunt on!!!

All grown up and still hunting grasshoppers!