I was so excited to go into my backyard on Thursday this past week before the snow began to fall again. I was actually taking the opportunity to clean up some of the dog waste that has accumulated over the past couple of months of snow cover in my north-facing backyard. I couldn’t have been more excited to hear the call of a black-capped chickadee in one of the trees in my backyard. I have never had many chickadees in my yard because the tree growth is only about 11 years old. However, on occasion they do stop in for a quick bite and on some of those visits I happen to be lucky enough to actually be outdoors to enjoy their company.
I stopped doing my chores for a moment to figure out where the bird was located and watched it fly back and forth from a tree to one of my tray feeders with one peanut kernel at a time. I really got excited when I looked to the branch above the bird to see yet another chickadee joining in. In such a hectic world it’s such a joy to be able to walk outside and let the natural world entertain you.
This morning before I let my dogs out in the backyard I looked out at the snow falling on our blue spruce tree. It almost looked like we still had the tree decorated for the holidays because there were so many bright red male house finches sitting on its branches. I know that feeding birds can be time consuming, but the payoff is great! I hope that you feel the same way.
