Snowy Egret

The snowy white egret has come back. I love watching it land, deliberately stalk fish in the pond and soar back into the air. Yesterday it slowly walked the edge of the dam intently eying the water. This morning I watched it swoop in and take off again. So majestic.

Greed and the Great Blue Heron

Our great blue heron stalked the fish in our pond and caught the biggest one possible -- 12" long and 4" wide. That heron was a bit too greedy. He tried arranging it in his beak so that he could swallow it, all to no avail. Then, he finally got tired of holding the fish and set it down. It was flopping all over, so he stabbed it with his beak and took a drink of water. Then, he picked it up again and worked on trying to swallow it.

Later, I found the dead fish on the ground. I'm going to bury it in my garden to help my vegetables grow. That's an old Indian-Native American trick.

The lesson from this is -- don't be greedy.

Backyard Bird Happenings

It's spring, and the birds in my Connecticut backyard are very busy. We have a pond, which attracts all sorts of great birds. I just saw an osprey dive in and fly away with a fish.

Please post your bird sightings.