Sleeping in the Mud

American Avocets sleeping in the mud

While driving around yesterday, I came across this pair of American Avocets sleeping in the mud on the edge of a  flooded farm field. I was struck by the incongruity of such beauty and elegance in the midst of such ugliness. Then I remembered why avocets and other shorebirds love the mud: It's their grocery store! Later I saw another American Avocet wading in the shallow water and doing a little grocery shopping. 



American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana, looking for something to eat