Birthday Paddle

The month of May is crazy for the Dixon household. Double D's birthday falls during the first week of May; mine is the next week; and Mother's Day comes somewhere before, after, or ON my birthday. While Double D wanted to kick up his heels in The Quarter for his big day, I was perfectly content to paddle on Lake Martin for my birthday. The highlights for me were the Black-crowned Night Heron and Barn Swallows.

Before kayaking, however, I had to have some nutrition! My grandparents' used to love Pat's Fisherman's Wharf in Henderson, LA. Thankfully, it was on the way to the lake. I had not been there since I was a child, and I'm happy to report that it hasn't changed a bit. The food was as wonderful as I remembered. We got there way past lunch time, so that's why there aren't a lot of people. Just the way I like it.

You can see from my expanding mid-section that I ate every single bite of my shrimp platter.
I was then presented with this delicious, SINFUL slice of doberge cake and serenaded by our waitress.
We pronounce the cake DOUGH-bahj. Some say DOUGH-bearj.
Here is a more thorough history and a recipe of the famous cake.

I made fast friends with Emilean, our waitress. We Facebooked each other right then and there!
She made my day extra special. Not only did she give me extra shrimp AND a piece of cake,
she shared a personal experience that helped me tremendously concerning panic attacks.
It was one of those God-things, y'all.

Now, on to the show!

Water Hyacinth

Double D paving the way.

I learned that when gators are resting with their mouths open, they are cooling off since they
don't have sweat glands. Whew, good to know!

Black-crowned Night Heron

DD was after the Prothonotary Warbler and the Northern Parula

Prothonotary Warbler

So, that was my big day!

Thank you, Anni for hosting

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We Are Family

Double D and I happened upon a family of Black-crowned Night Herons. The young'uns are streaked with brown feathers and orange eyes; the adults have slate gray outer wing feathers with navy blue back and head with long white plumes, and red eyes. We discovered about a dozen of them near LSU Lakes in Baton Rouge. They were in a little pond tucked away from all the main activity. It was a nice find the third week of January.