A WEIRD CHRISTMAS DAY

A WEIRD CHRISTMAS DAY

New feeder

I'm a bird watcher and photographer, which consumes a large portion of my days. The day before Christmas, I decided to put up a new feeder for the birds, one the squirrels couldn't get to. Squirrels Just don't like sharing, not even with each other let alone with those flighty birds. I don't know why I hadn't thought of it a long time ago. Of course the answer to that is, the old noggin just doesn't work like it used to.

Anyway, I placed the new feeder in front of my computer room window where I previously had two feeders, which hung on plant hangers I confiscated from my wife. This time I hung the new one from the edge of the roof gutter.

Feeding station in backyard

It worked beautifully. Within minutes birds, mostly sparrows, flocked to the new feeder and the squirrels querulously searched for a way to gain access to it and I set up my camera. I had to make one adjustment, i.e., the feeder swayed too much to take good pictures.

I had to anchor it down somehow. I found a string and went to attach the feeder to the side of the window. While in the process, an unsuspecting bird flew in. Its wing brushed against my cheek before it realized I wasn't part of the feeder.

The string, you see in the picture below, worked and I covered the window from inside concealing all but the camera lenses and began taking pictures. I was as delighted as a pig in slop and obtained many great pictures. Birds flocked in, mostly Sparrows, as though they hadn't eaten in days. I got some good shots of flighty Tufted Titmice, on the left and Black Capped Chickadees, on the right, that come in, grab some seeds, and take off again. I'm too slow on the trigger to get good shots of them. I took these two just after putting up the new feeder.

 I was surprised and disappointed on Christmas day when no birds showed up. More surprising, no squirrels came around.

Oak tree bush

The stillness of the quiet felt weird, and. the only birds I saw that day were the pair of mocking birds, that for the past several years, have lived in my oak tree I keep trimmed into a round bush. The pair usually comes out in the mornings and sits for long periods atop the bush as they survey the neighborhood before taking off on their daily excursion. They have built four nests in that small tree/bush.

Pair of Machingbirds

I only saw the female when she came out and took off. That is the female on top. I can distinguish the male by the larger patches of white on his wings. I often catch his beautiful songs when I wander outside wearing my hearing aids, which I usually only wear when watching TV.

This is my backyard feeding station, which is an unusual shot, because most always, there is a squirrel sitting and munching seeds, or chasing birds or each other away from the feeding station, while a half dozen more are positioning for whose next to feed. The ornery devils cannot stand having company while they eat. I guess the table is too small for more than one squirrel at a time.

The next day, I told my wife about the missing animals. She said, "It's probably because of the storm we had."

"What storm?"

"It came in after you went to bed. The animals probably sensed the storm is coming."

"I guess that's what it was then. I thought it may have been all those tingle bells and hoof beets from the night before."

If you like birds, have a look at this video, on Birds of Paradise. Check out the longer version on that site. It's amazing.