Perfect Landing?

Today is a gorgeous day in South Mississippi - warm, sunny and about 78 degrees. A ride to the Inner Harbor at Ocean Springs led us to a very large group of Brown Pelicans. It seemed to be the meeting place for the day. Each of the pelicans were in different poses - sleeping, swimming, yawning (quite a sight to see!) and in one case, a young brown pelican came in for a landing on a post. We humans expect these creatures who've spent so much time in and around the water to be perfect at all activities they engage in. We should know, though, that there is no perfection in any thing at all times. Today, this young fellow dropped his feet to land and overshot the post, much like an airplane overshooting the landing strip. He quickly corrected and lifted up, landing hard in the water. An older brown pelican eyed him for a time after he hit the water as if he were thinking, "Kids these days!"

Birds and Gnats

A warm, overcast day this morning on the south Mississippi Gulf Coast led to a drive to Gulf Islands National Seashore Davis Bayou Park. Miss Gator, the resident matriarch alligator, was resting in her pond. With her today and throughout the park was a large host of gnats. How they can locate their victims within seconds must be one of the true marvels of nature. These gnats do bite, adding to the frustration of the visiting humans! Yet, as aggravating as they were, they could not take away from the joy of spotting so many species of birds. Present today were large groups of male and female hooded mergansers. The males can be identified even from a great distance. They are such handsome birds with feathers spiked and swept back on their heads - hence the term hooded - and with a large spot of white on either side of the head surrounded by black. Male and female mergansers were diving near the boat ramp; snowy egrets, great white egrets and a Louisiana heron were fishing in the bayou at low tide.

Even the land birds were abundant and busy feeding. Flashes of blue around the trees led us to spot the gorgeous male and female Eastern Bluebirds. They were keeping company with many sparrows.

On the road back out of the park, we rode with the windows down, primarily to try to blow the gnats back outside, lest they eat us alive on the trip back home. As we drove, birds could be heard all along the way - a fussing mockingbird, cardinals and Carolina chickadees were in full voice.

As we reached the entrance of the park, a quick stop at a pond gave us a view of the big bull! If we are fortunate, from time to time there is a large male alligator who resides there. More often than not, he is out of view - but not today. He rested in the water, perhaps feeling generous and deciding that he would allow a few lucky travellers to get a look at such a magnificent creature.

Indeed, Gulf Islands Seashore Park is teeming with life today!

Spread Your Wings and ..... Dry!

A warm day it is today here in South Mississippi - in the low 70's. Warm weather like that in December usually means a shower preceding a cold front. Today is no exception. A good soaking rain drenched the plant life and all the creatures here, too. We humans weren't the only ones drying out in the sun that followed the brief showers. Shore birds could be spotted on post after post with wings outstretched. Double-crested cormorants sat with wings facing the sun to dry, as did many brown pelicans. At the Inner Harbor, almost a dozen brown pelicans worked diligently preening damp feathers and soaking up the warmth.

Once again today, the white pelicans were present on a sandbar off of East Beach. Dozens of them sat in a group, much like a congregation meeting for Sunday church services. They were joined by more congregants including brown pelicans and hundreds of sea gulls, all peacefully relaxing in the afternoon breeze.