For the Birds

I miss my birds.  There is nothing that gives me so much joy as getting up in the morning and watching them at, or under, my feeders.  Goldfinches, house finches, purple finches, juncos, tufted titmice, nuthatches, chickadees, the cardinal pair, mourning doves, downy woodpeckers, the occasional rose-breasted grosbeak, and in summer the catbird.  There must be two catbirds, but I've never seen more than one at a time.

And then there are these furry grey ones.  I hadn't realized birds could have tails like that.  So greedy.  They eat me out of house and home.  They'll just plaster themselves to the feeders and stay and stay, just gobbling away.  I don't understand why the birds don't mob them and drive them away, there are many more of them than there are squirrels.  And, by the way, my supposedly squirrel-proof feeders aren't.
But why am I missing my birds right now?

We had a visitor two weeks ago.  I went outside on a Monday morning and was greeted with this sight.  I feed the birds year round, in spite of warnings, so I do know the risks.  But on the whole I've been lucky, and in the thirty years we've lived here we've only been visited by a bear three times.  We live right in town, after all, and the middle school and high school are just down the hill.  Though there was a day, back when my older son, now 31, was in high school, that a bear ambled across the upper field while he was at soccer practice.

This fellow was particularly thorough and took out all three feeders, as well as the suet feeders, in the side yard.  Fortunately he didn't go through the garden, though he, or she, left a calling card beside it.  And a much larger pile in the back yard.  The hummingbird feeder and seed feeder in the front yard were untouched, fortunately, but  I've taken in the seed feeder to be safe.  I will probably put them back out again in a few weeks as there's been no evidence (no additional piles!) of a return visit.  And I miss my birds.  There are still birds around, I hear them all the time I'm home, but the finches have all gone elsewhere.  I particularly miss the goldfinches.  Their brilliant yellow gives me such joy.

Quote of the Day

Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be.  Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet.  I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.

Groucho Marx