As I sit here every morning, I am taken by the birds that gather at the feeder outside my window. Often there are more than five of them, all puffed up and frantically pecking at the seeds. They attach themselves to whatever part of the feeder they can. The base holds two, and the wire framing at least three. Chickadees and finches and nuthatches, all fluffy and beautiful, fly quickly in and out of the feeder, gathering for their morning gossip over a seedlike scone. I wonder if they have coffee with it as well.
The smaller feeder held a woodpecker yesterday. It was a pillated one, with its laddered back. It made a great deal of noise as it forcefully pecked at the feed inside. He is a loner, scaring all other birds away as he eats his breakfast. He is like the scruffy farmer who is gruff about all he does, hushing the gossiping ladies in the café as he enters.
The feeder attached to the tree, just west of the fence, feeds more squirrels than it does birds. They hang upside down, right-side up, and sideways to get as much out as they can. I can just imagine their chirping and annoyance at the time it takes them to get it out. The outcasts of the society, they don’t come into join the gossip, mostly because the sheriff (dear old Maddie) will skin them alive if they do. They have right to fear her. She is a fierce sheriff, not afraid to bear her teeth and run them out of town.
My favorite to watch, though, are the cardinals. They are the birds of a different color (excuse my pun). When they enter the town, especially Mr. Cardinal, all the other birds seem to scatter. It is very unlikely to see the cardinals at the feeder with other birds. And if there are other birds there, they flit in and out, somewhat timidly.
Though I love the red of Mr. Cardinal, the other day, Mrs. Cardinal really caught my eye. She is not too proud to share the feeder with other birds, and though her husband is intimidating, she is no cause for alarm. Her muted red and brown make her beautiful as she perches tall and eats her seeds. Coming into the café a little later in the morning, she is the woman that all the ladies gossip about over their coffee and scones. Mrs. Cardinal, though, is not shaken by this behavior and patiently sits and eats her fill.
A sighting of all this is a morning routine, and I can say that my words barely do it justice. It is an exhilarating thing to behold. The flutter of wings, the frantic pecking, the puffing appearance against the cold all attribute to the beauty of it.
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:25-34
