Monday, May 18, 2009

Of Mudbugs and Night-Herons

When the kids and I asked Tiffany where she wanted to eat out for her special (early) Mother's Day lunch last weekend, it was no surprise to any of us that she picked Pappadeaux, the Cajun seafood member of the Pappas Restaurants chain. We both have a weakness for their brand of vittles, and our overall favorite is a spicy combination of those two most wonderful Cajun delicacies: fried crawfish and crawfish etouffee. Oh, man, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

Crawfish, crayfish, crawdads, mudbugs — no matter what you call 'em, they're good eating. And it's not just Cajuns and Texans that think so. Just the other day on the way home from work I passed this distinguished-looking gentleman:

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron - 5/5/2009
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea)

He was busily hunting frogs and crawdads in the post-flood mud near Big Cypress Creek. You can tell by the half-lidded expression of ecstasy just how much he was enjoying these fresh-caught morsels. (Fresh is always better than frozen when it comes to shellfish, you know.)

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron - 5/5/2009

Of course, every now and then you come across one that's got just a little more kick in it than the rest. In fact, this poor fella found one particular critter that just refused to go down without a fight!

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron - 5/5/2009

Unfortuntely, after a brief battle that mudbug was lunch, and I had to leave the bird to enjoy the rest of his buffet. It just goes to show you, though — no matter our differences, everyone can agree when it comes to good food.

Hmmm, I wonder if Pappadeaux has frog legs on their menu...

[To view any of these photos in more detail, just click on the appropriate image to view them on my Flickr photostream, then click the "All Sizes" button above the image.]


For more great bird photos from around the world, check out Bird Photography Weekly #38.

Bird Photography Weekly

14 comments:

Dawn Fine said...

Beautiful photos..glad you all had fun!

MaineBirder said...

Beautiful, sharp photos with excellent light! Great job well done!

Amy said...

Very beautiful photos of a very distinguished-looking gentleman. What a looker!

Bob Kaufman said...

Awesome capture of the heron having lunch.

Christopher said...

These are simply fantastic shots Kyle. You are really wielding that camera like a true pro. I swear every time I manage some time to visit a few blogs, yours is always high on my list, 'cuz I know the photography is going to be killer.

Not to discount the narrative at all - you're an equally fine story-teller as well.

mick said...

Those are really great photos - especially like the ones with his lunch in his mouth!

neil said...

Excellent photos!

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Unbelievable photos Kyle!
Really- they made me gasp!

Neil said...

Great photos and a beautiful bird.

Kelly said...

...beautiful photos and a great story about his lunch! I also like seeing his nictitating membrane partially shown on his eye.

Kyle said...

Thanks for all the kind words on the photos, gang. Y'all really know how to make a guy blush!

gwendolen said...

Oh yum! I mean cool post Kyle :-)

Brad Myers said...

Great captures and post, thanks for sharing them.

Larry Jordan said...

Super captures of the Yellow-crowned Night Heron Kyle! Personally, I don't think I would enjoy eating a critter that was crawling around my mouth, but hey, that's just me ;-)