Birdies

We have a new bird feeder, full of black oil sunflower seeds. Our friends, the chickadees, are joyful patrons of this feeder. They are amazingly bold, allowing me to stand next to the feeder and take their picture. I have to be quick; they swoop in, grab a seed, and fly back to the rhodie five feet away. There they crack open the seed and pick out the meat.

When we first bought the house the previous owner was very hopeful that we would continue feeding the pine siskins. They were very abundant that year. Since then we rarely see them. I was thrilled to spot two of them at the feeder the other day. Wonder of wonders! Their pattern of eating is nothing like the chickadees; they just stay at the feeder and chow down, seeds flying every which way. I gazed at them in wonder, knowing that if I even stepped out onto the deck they would be long gone.