It was early on Tuesday October 15, 2013. The weather was overcast and it had rained in the late night hours. The grass was still wet when I went out and filled the platform feeder with our usual mixture of seed. The Blue Jays were out and very loud. The sounds from the woods were almost spring-like; a twitter here and a chip and chirp there. I was loving the moment.
As usual the Northern Cardinals were the first to the feeder; first the male, then the female. I marvel at the politeness of this pair. They are seldom at the feeder together and when they are they give one another plenty of room. A few Mourning Doves appeared but they kept their distance, sitting on a branch near, but far enough away from the feeder as to not bring any attention to themselves. Then the Tufted Titmice arrived!They almost seemed to change the atmosphere around the area behind our apartment. It suddenly seemed alive with movement. A glimpse of yellow here and a flash of red there. The bushes moved to the left, then right, then to the left again. There were birds everywhere!
The Titmice seemed to control the tempo. They'd fly in, grab a seed, wasting little time on the feeder, and again fly off to a spot deep into the woods. This went on for about an hour. A quick visit by a Red Bellied Woodpecker, who seemed to be in a hurry also, taking one or two trips to the feeder only to disappear for good.Suddenly, all was quiet. I checked the skies for some kind of raptor. There was none to be found. Nor were there many sounds either. I really don't know what caused the stoppage of nature, but it was quiet. Really quiet!
Regardless, I got a few good shots. I would have loved more, but one takes what one gets at times like these.
