Friday, August 12, 2011

Feast Fit for a Bird

I left the windows open Saturday night into Sunday. Saturday night was fairly cool, although humid. Mija and I were enjoying just lying in bed when I heard the sound, coming from the living room, of a cat with prey. Crap.

We got up and went into the living room to see Pilchard at the north window. If you've ever had cats you know there is this distinctive noise they make when they have something or when they watch something they know they could eat if they could only catch it. She was totally engrossed in something outside the window.

There are two fir trees on the north side of the house. There are also a bunch of what I call "trash" trees, small things that have sprouted thanks to seed droppings. It forms a nice cover for the north window. I can still see out but it's hard to see in. Plus, squirrels and birds will sit in the trees.

We used to have a bird feeder that attached to the window via suction cups. It took a few weeks for the birds to understand the cats couldn't get to them. You'd often see a chickadee in the feeder with a cat on the opposite side of the glass staring intently as the bird had lunch. The problem with this location is that squirrels can also get into this feeder. One particularly rotund gray squirrel jumped into the feeder and caused it to fall off the window, hit the ground and split in two.

At first, I couldn't see what held Pilchard's attention. I could hear a chickadee outside. Then I spotted it.


What you need to know is that with the arrival of August, we have the August cicadas, too. They have been really noisy this year. I don't know what kind they are, whether we have an abundance of the annual ones or if this is a crop of the ones that wait years before emerging. This little guy was having Sunday morning breakfast outside our window.

Once again I think, "I should get out that feeder I have in the basement." There are other places where both the cats and I could enjoy bird watching and the squirrels wouldn't get the seed.

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

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