Our backyard, I have come to believe, is an aviary. I only say this because of the copious amounts of birds that inhabit our backyard as well as our neighbors'. I guess it’s a suitable habitat, with a canal and numerous mature trees, but I would think that the many outdoor cats would be a deterrent. Not so! Apparently we have the Indiana Jones of birds flying around.
Both of my neighbors are retired and having nothing to do but feed said birds, and I get to reap the benefits. Because of the free meal, we get woodpeckers, sparrows, red-winged black birds, mallards, wood ducks, domesticated ducks, doves, quail and a slew of others I can’t begin to name (Wait, I lied. We also get hawks. We actually were witness to a Discovery Channel moment when we saw a red-tailed hawk take down a dove in front of us and then proceed to devour it right next to our patio).
Anyways…I was beginning to feel that I wasn’t doing my part to help sustain the circle of life in our little subdivision, so I went to Wal-Mart and purchased a cheap, bell bird feeder and hung it from the tree in our back yard.
Days I waited, looking out my kitchen window for signs that the birds were eating away at that little bell. They weren’t and I was starting to feel a little offended and left out. Why wasn’t my bird feeder as good as the other two? Just because there wasn’t a little, wooden house…
The days wore on and I was getting ticked off, until I spotted the reason why they weren’t taking my offering. I was sitting on my back patio, reading a book, when I looked up and saw one of those cats (my cat) perched on the branch the bird feeder hung from, waiting patiently for any dumb bird to come and partake. I had to laugh at that, and suddenly I was glad that the bird feeder was still there.
I have a picture that I was going to post with this, it’s quite comical, of my cat perched right above the bell, but my stupid online album for my cell isn’t working. Dumb Verizon….so I will post it when I can, along with a shot of the hawk.
We really do live in the wild, it feels like. Coyotes, nutria and all manner of birds go through our neighborhood. In fact, we have two mallards nesting in my front flower garden.
--Me
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