By April, the bottom mud was exposed in the shallow pond near our Fish Bay house. During months without rain there is no freshwater runoff to capture from the hill behind us, while a seasonal drop in the Fish Bay water level cuts off the flow of salt water through the inlet.

Small fish come into the pond along with the flow from the bay, and get trapped as the water starts drying up. The easy fishing attracted egrets and herons and other wetland birds – and one morning there was some unusual squawking and a flurry of wings so I went down to investigate. A couple of great egrets seemed to be quarreling over fishing rights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“This pond’s not big enough for both of us.”

Then a third great egret dropped in.

Maybe I got a little bit too close to the action.

See video of the great egrets chasing each other around

Meanwhile smaller birds were busy snarfing up the fish.

A green heron

A spotted sandpiper

A clapper rail

An adult little blue heron

And a juvenile little blue heron – their feathers are white for the first year.

The juvenile little blue heron got chased off by the adult

But was tolerated by one of the great egrets

A busy and exciting time in the pond