Why is it that people just can’t resist adding captions to images of animals? Are humans so self-involved that everything they see is always about them? Or is it just too much fun to resist?

When I look at this image, captured near the shore of Clear Lake, CA on a fall morning, I have plenty of questions.

What are these two egrets looking at? Are they watching the open water and the shore at the same time? Why does one bird have one foot up, and the other have both feet down?

And, in spite of the popular expression “bird brain,” I want to know what they’re thinking about. Do birds ever get bored? There was a huge crowd of birds on the surrounding docks this particular morning. It looked like some kind of formal gathering.

It was sunny and warm. Must have been a nice spot. I would have liked to watch them all arrive and leave. Bird watching really is an awful lot like people watching.