Egrets! They’re pretty marvelous, right? I think so.

Here’s something you never thought about: For a creature that mucks about in the mud flats as much as your average egret does, how do they keep their feathers so blindingly white? And what’s up with that uncomfortable-looking thing they do with their necks?

Want to know the answers? Then you want to listen to this week’s episode of “Humboldt Baywatch,” in which Midge Martin, your friendly neighborhood KHUM-FM DJ, interrogates various wildlife experts about the lives and loves of the furry and feathered neighbors with whom we share Humboldt County.

This week, we got Carol Vandermeer of Friends of the Dunes to come into the studio and justify all three varieties of egret that are known to infest our territory. 

Let’s listen in!

AUDIO:

“Humboldt Bay Watch,” Sept. 1, 2022.

Wasn’t that interesting? Well, keep listening to KHUM-FM — that’s 104.3 and 104.7 on your FM dial (or right here, online!) — and who knows what interesting thing you’ll hear next!

Right now DJ Greta is playing some spooky minor-key murder ballad kind of thing with lots of string instruments and random hip-hop style sound effects that frankly isn’t much to my personal taste. But it may be much to yours! I don’t know you! In any case, we’re bound to get something completely different in a few seconds here, because KHUM spins all kinds of songs.

Let’s wait and see what she plays next.

Ha ha! It’s something called “Goji Berry Sunset” by a band called — get this! — “Jealous of the Birds”! Like an egret, perhaps??? Pretty funny.