An Egret I'm Callin' Charles

It took me a long time to figure out what was going on with Curious Charles.

He is a lone egret at the lake in the park. When I fed the ducks and geese he'd fly from out of nowhere and land to the side of the action. Charlie stays at a respectable distance, but slowly inches closer, taking one tentative step at the time.

I thought, he knows when there's food and comes around to get his share, just like the squirrels, the nutrias, the turtle and the grackles, starlings and bluejays. So I'd throw some his way, but he never went for it. He would tilt his head and turn his curious eye, but it always went uneaten.

One day I went home and read that egrets only eat fish. So while I didn't ever throw bread to him again, he always made his way over. I figured he just must be a bird who likes a party.

On the edge of the lake where the water is shallow, if you throw food in, it can disappear before the ducks, who are quick, can get to them. On a clear day, like the one in the mini-movie below, I finally made out that it was because little blue-green fish would fiercely attack the morsels like a pack of piranhas and gobble it into non-existence.

Suddenly I realized that the Curious Charles comes over because the fish are such easy prey when I feed the ducks... which makes me his wingman, so to speak. SMART CHARLIE! Never a dull moment in the animal kindgom.

The beginning of this video was about coaxing a baby nutria swimming in the shallows to come closer. But keep your eyes to the right-- you'll see Charlie, who has just flown over, wading as he always does.

This was the day I actually saw him catch three fish. He would tilt his head at a comical angle to best use the one eye on the side of his head closest to the water. (See the little dimples in the water made by the fish devouring bread?)

And with his pointy yellow beak he quickly skewered the fishie (I just could not get that part!!!). He'd raise it up, with it's little tail still flapping, get in position and flick it off his beak into the air. Charlie'd catch it in his mouth and in one gulp, it'd be gone. If you forget about the poor fish for a moment, I can tell you it's almost like watching a cartoon, as you can see the exact outline of the fish's body slide down Charlie's long, ultra slim white neck. He could join Cirque du Soleil with such talent.

I tried for about an hour this day to catch him snagging his lunch but it was too hard to keep feeding the increasing brood of birds, balance my movie camera and frame Charlie at the right moment. Stay tuned, as I eventually hope to get it.