doves at the feeder

When I got home from work Thursday afternoon, I filled both of my bird feeders until they were brimming over. Knowing the snow storm was coming, I wanted to provide a feast. Plus, the darn squirrels take a big share. The pigs.

One of the things I enjoy most about working from home is the view I have while working at the computer. In the office, I have a dinky cubicle that's chock full of stacks of papers and files. It's a very, very good thing I'm not in the least claustrophobic, otherwise, I'd not last an hour in my cubicle. Also, the cubicle furniture is very old, the carpeting is very old and the nearest window is far away. Working at my computer there in my cozy cube, I usually have no idea what the weather is like, what the sky is doing. And there are bugs. With old stuff and so much paper around... yes, bugs. Including spiders. (Dammit.)

From my desk at home, I sit right in front of south-facing windows. This does mean that I must occasionally draw the blinds since the sun doesn't mix well with a computer screen. Obviously, though, it's worth it.

Right outside the window are my bird feeders. I love watching the birds. I enjoy the rapid flights to and from the feeders in my peripheral vision. It's energizing.

Yesterday, a trio of mourning doves came to the feeder. Instead of pecking at the ground at the base of the feeder like they normally do, they flew up to the feeder. When they first arrived and flew up to the feeder, it was like most activity suddenly stopped. It was so still for just a moment. I think the chickadees, nuthatches, finches, juncos and titmouses were as surprised as I was. But as always, the chickadees were the first to adapt; they soon began joining the doves. And as always, it was wonderful to watch.







It is pretty easy, actually, to catch a chickadee in flight with a photo at my feeders. The chickadees are always flitting back and forth from shrubs to feeder. I was trying to get a nice photo yesterday of a chickadee perching on an uppermost branch of the nearest shrub, but I couldn't... though they kept landing there, the little things wouldn't stay still long enough for me to get a photo.

I love the detail of their feathers in flight...





And the lone cardinal that appeared was striking in the mass of white...



And unusual... a lone blue jay... the jays usually appear in a group of 3. He or she was also beautiful against the white. I love their soft, dusty-blue backs...



And by the way, the amount of snow on top of the feeder doesn't represent well enough just how much snow we got yesterday... squirrels would regularly arrive and knock some snow off the top of the feeder. I was thankful in a way, because I kept thinking I needed to go clean off the snow so the feeder didn't fall under the weight of it. However, one black squirrel stayed so long that I finally had to go pop his butt with my trusty BB gun to teach him how to share.