One of my greatest pleasures is being able to sit on a Sunday such as this
and watch out the window as the snow falls and the birds gather to feed.
This morning has been such a delight. There have been no surprises among the
visitors, but the activity outside provides a serene and peaceful time in
which to contemplate and recharge.

The goldfinches are beginning to change, and it will not be long before they
are once again brighter than the pine warbler which has been visiting this
winter, as he did last winter. Right now, the pine warbler stands out
because he is clearly brighter yellow than the goldfinches. In a month, he
will be notable because he is greener than they. I only see him on weekends;
I wonder whether he, like me, works during the week, perhaps in the city,
coming home to his wife and kids only after dark.

The brown creeper pair are active at the suet feeder. At the base of the
tree, the two of them glean any shavings of suet which the sloppy
woodpeckers knock off, and then shimmy up the trunk to the feeder itself.
One on each side, they delicately peck at the suet, until it is time to
shimmy on farther up the trunk, or fly to another tree. Thirty minutes
later, one or both of them are back for more.

And every so often, all activity ceases and everyone flees. Except, perhaps,
a goldfinch or a downy caught in the window feeder, who freezes absolutely
stock still, not moving a muscle. The neighborhood Cooper's is on patrol,
stopping by to see what's for lunch. The Cooper's is certain that she knows
why it's called a bird feeder, but today the azaleas and the holly tree
provide enough cover for all the other birds to hide. The snow, sticking to
the foliage, makes the bushes impossible to enter for the big bird. She soon
flies off, no doubt complaining under her breath that I forgot to fill the
bird feeder yet again.

But the threat passes soon, and led by the intrepid chickadees and titmice,
the birds soon return in force, the juncos and the whitethroats in the snow,
the cardinals and finches on the feeders, the downies at the suet. The snow
continues, and I may sit here all day.

--John McKitterick
Columbia, MD  jbmck-at-comcast-dot-net