Chilly birds

Today we got a proper taste of winter. I went out with a tea kettle of boiling water to melt the bird’s water dish twice. It would have been three times, but my Michael saved me the first trip. I love seeing the birds swoop in for a drink before the water even stops steaming. […]

Hungry, hungry birdies

For a while, in early spring, it took so long for the feeders to empty, I was starting to wonder where the birds were. Even as more birds appeared and sang, the feeders still seemed neglected. I think maybe they were finding plenty of forage and bugs to feed their babies, which would be good, […]

Hawk buffet

I saw the hawk again today. She’s so big, I make sure I know where the cats are when she shows up. She took off before I got a picture, a beautiful broad-chested bird with black and white bars under her wings. I did get a picture of what’s left of the buffet. Supplies of […]

A blizzard of birds

Along with today’s blizzards, a bunch of juncos showed up! The snow piled up so high, some of the birds were hopping about right under the kitchen window. Most of them hung out in the bushes, or suddenly burst into flight, or one by one swooped down to the feeders. The birds even pecked at […]

Snowy birds

So we got a blizzard, but it’s not winter until the juncos show up. I’ve been wondering what’s keeping them. And I wondered last night, while listening to the storm huffing and puffing and rattling the windows, where do the birds go? I suppose they go the same places they go every night. By dark, […]

Drinky birds

This is the view out my window, for a little while, after I pour a kettle of hot water into the dish.

Live Drinky Birds

Welcome back to the realm of blurry pictures taken through a window. This time, it’s the birds again. So it’s not such a great picture, but here they are, enjoying a cold frisbee of water. For a while, it was a warm frisbee of hot water steaming up in a small fog. As the steam […]

Sparrows

Often there are so many birds — sparrows, mostly — in the bushes that the rustling of their flitting about sounds like a much larger animal rattling about in there. It can sound downright alarming if you don’t see them. Then I look up through the branches of my little viburnum, and there they are […]

Bird fruit

To a cat, the most important fruit that a tree bears are birds. Here, for example, is a crop of fat juicy sparrows waiting to get another chance at the bird feeder. Too bad there’s a fluffy white cat sitting under it, looking hopeful. I told you he was evil.