We have five bird feeders in our backyard (which Brad calls, "the sanctuary"): one tube feeder, two cedar a-frame feeders, a finch feeder and a hummingbird feeder.
For weeks, we had hungry, happy birds getting fat at our feeders. We had eight quail, two pairs of mourning doves, black capped chickadees, finches, jays, hummingbirds, robins (the golden retriever of the bird world) and flocks of others I couldn't identify, even with the help of the marvelous, full-color birding book my parnts gave us for our first anniversary. Our birds seemed content and comfortable. If one of us forgot to fill a feeder, the birds sat on the empty structure and squawked at us - the avian equivalent of banging your shot glass down on the bar?
One night, during a party with tons of people in the backyard, our hummingbird (Hummy, I call him) flew up to the feeder, swilled some nectar and darted around the party for several minutes, delighting our guests and making me feel like Saint Francis.
But now they're gone.
Over the last week, I've noticed no bird activity in our backyard - not even a sudden flutter into hiding when I open the door. They've all gone, and I can't figure out why. It's not any hotter than it has been - actually, it's been almost (almost) pleasant in Salt Lake for the past couple days. The dogs pay no more attention to the feeders than they did before.(Arnie, the bird dog, is afraid of our backyard guests. He sticks to my side when I'm out there, like he just saw Alfered Hitchcock's "Birds" and is convinced they're all out to get him.)
Why have they left us? I really miss them.
2 comments:
Did your neighbor get a cat or something like that?
Not that I know of. We don't know our neighbors. We're the unfriendly-types.
Good thought, though, and if they DID get a cat, I'd hope it was Christian the Lion.
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