Most mornings after filling the bird feeders, I put the tea kettle on and stand at the sink for a while to see what's going on outside the kitchen window. No doubt there are more useful, productive ways to spend my time, but then I would miss the mockingbird who comes to cast a proprietary eye on the feeders, like an absentee restaurant owner who shows up now and then to see that things are right, and take credit for it. Mockingbirds don't sing at this time of the year, but their presence is felt.
There are not as many Cardinals around this winter as usual but the titmice and house wrens are taking up the slack. That's the way things go sometimes; one species thrives and another declines. Years ago we had flocks of purple finches at the feeders but now we seldom see one. I hope the Cardinal population rebounds this spring. I miss them.
The squirrels had a successful mating season and are a constant nuisance at the feeders, gorging themselves on millet and scaring the birds away. Overpopulation has led to brawls over food and territory and whatever else squirrels fight about. A couple of weeks ago one of the squirrels turned up at the feeder with a nasty, gash in his right foreleg, and a day or two later I noticed a squirrel with one eye gouged out.
Nature is not kind to injured animals and I wondered if these two squirrels would die. The words of Ebenezer Scrooge crossed my mind: " . . .they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population" Christmas was a few days away.
But yesterday old Stumpy was raiding the feeder, one useless front paw dangling. He looked healthy and was amazingly agile on three legs. And then to my surprise, One-Eye showed up as well, his eye clean but sunken and lifeless. I don't much think he can see anything out of the damaged eye, but seems to be getting along quite well. The pluck and determination to live displayed by these two small creatures banished my inner Scrooge and I was happy to see them back.
Our cats spend many an unproductive hour watching the comings and goings on the deck. Their interest is instinctual and unsentimental; their eyes unclouded by thought. Some mornings I try to clear my mind and see the world outside the kitchen window as a cat might see it but soon the cats are ready for breakfast and want my attention. I turn away from the window, line up the bowls and open a can of cat food. That makes me feel useful and productive again.
After breakfast the cats find a window and settle in to watch. They consider it time well spent.
I feed the house sparrows around here. There don't seem to be any other birds for the winter. They live in a bush in front of our apartment building and were still showing up on our balcony when it was way below zero. Tough little buggers and I think their even having young ones at this time of year. They don't pay much attention to our cat. If there are any squirrels around here I don't think they'll be making it up to our fifth floor. Merry Christmas.
ReplyDeleteCJ--your birds are all down here in the South trying to stay warm.
DeleteHope you have a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year!