As far as his tolerance of me and Linda goes, I believe Stubby is doing fine, and has just been aclimating himself to humans more than the average GBH of this area. I'm reminded of other examples where these birds have learned to tolerate humans in situations similar to this, such as those that frequent common fishing areas.
Stubby has learned to use a human's appoach to his advantage. He has discovered that when a human walks along the waterline towards him, the human begins to stir up the frogs. Stubby uses these oportunities to know where his next meal is now sitting. :)
He appears to be very alert, as you mentioned. I can easily see this eveytime I am nearby, as his body language is reflecting this. My main concern recently was whether or not the hook I had seen in his lower bill was still there. If it is still there, it seems he is not experiencing any complications from it.
