This article is about the Bird, and the Baby. My KT is a wonderful girl. I know that I've got the greatest kid in the world ;-) but she is constantly surprising me with what she does. As I've mentioned, she went to the beach for the first time last month, and one thing we did there was chase birds. I don't know if we've got a junior twitcher on our hands or what, but she definately enjoyed persuing the birds at the beach, even if they weren't exactly rarities. When we arrived, there was an interesting dynamic amoung the birds. The Snowy Egret shown in this picture hunted the surf. Female and male Boat-Tailed Grackles dabbled in the surf, getting whatever tidbits they could off the retreating waves. I was amazed at the snowy, it seemed to be extremely successful in catching things in the surf. I watched several small minnows meet their end at the "tip of the spear" at it were. The grackles noticed this success, and as grackles are wont to do, harried the snowy from time to time to try to get in on the action. They weren't so successful. When KT got down to the surf, she chose the biggest bird to chase first. The snowy flew off, obviously use to such harrassment because of the grackles. Then my baby turned her face to the grackles, and began to squeal with delight. I don't know if it was because there were so many of them (about a dozen in the immediate area) or because their dark bodies contrasted more with the light sand, but she definately gave them a run for their money. The snowy allowed me pretty close observation while KT chased grackles about.
There is something special about the beach, and birds in the surf.
GB and KT bid you "Good day."
