The One That Got Away 6
A couple of weeks ago, I saw a squirrel loafed out on the top of the telephone pole outside our kitchen window. It seemed to be staring in, willing me to put seed out on the ledge of the kitchen window. It would then be able to walk the wires to gain access. I’m not really supposed to feed birds there. That window is right over the back door of our building. But I figured one little handful wouldn’t hurt. It would snow soon, covering any evidence of empty seed shells below.
But the squirrel ignored the seed. A week went by. It snowed. Nobody ate the seeds, nobody noticed the seeds. That is, until today, a curious chickadee found the stash and quietly spirited away the black-oilers one by one (leaving the white millet untouched–no surprise there).

Although, one seed did escape the little bird. You could almost here a Homer Simpson-esque, “Doh!” as it slipped over the side.
Now, let’s see how much I toe the line and sneak bird seed on this ledge over the winter. I think as long as the pigeons and house sparrows don’t find it, I can manage my bird feeding addiction.











I hope he went and retrieved it!
Since you are only putting out handfuls of seed, what if you used sunflower hearts for the chickadees, no tell-tale shells below…stealth birdfeeding.
Do you ever use humming bird feeders in the warm periods of the year? Do you like them? We haven’t had them for a while but we enjoyed setting them up a few years ago.
“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity, and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, Nature is Imagination itself. (William Blake, 1799, The Letters)
“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul.” (John Muir)
Your nature blog is awesome. I look forward to following you!
http://deanleh.blogspot.com/
Dean Leh
The same thing happened to me, Sharon. I love those chickadees.
Emily,
I’m better at maintaining hummingbird feeders for friends than my own yard. Flowers work best–you don’t have to clean those out like to you do hummingbird feeders.