Sometimes Only A Few Birds

Howdy!

Today was an interesting day attempting to take photographs out back.  I was initially greeted by silence, complete silence.  No bird songs.  No birds flitting from tree to tree.  No birds moving here and there in the undergrowth.  Nothing.  This lasted for about ten minutes.  Let me also inform you that ten minutes waiting for anything is a long time.  Especially when that "anything" is something that happens in a split second and lasts about that long.

At first it was a chip here and a chip there, then slowly as if each and every bird knew the plan and were watching, sound started to come from the left, then the right, then it seemed from every direction.  Just when I thought that things were back to normal, it stopped again.  Silence.  Deafening silence.   I panned the area looking for anything that could cause seemingly hundreds of birds to suddenly get quiet.  Then, as if on queue, here he came, as silent as the air around him.

For a feral cat, he was a beauty.  Calico by color and a tiger by attitude.  It was if he owned the copse.  The birds clearly knew him and his reputation.  Even the Blue Jays in the area watched in silence, (something that they seldom do), as he walked purposefully to an area under my bird feeder.  I made a "phishing" sound to let him know I was there.  It didn't seem to bother him.  In fact, he barely even seemed to care.  Oh sure, he looked at me, but it was as if to say, "This is my woods and for the time being, I'll let you stay".

When he stopped under the feeder the woods again came alive.  It was as if by some indistinguishable head nod or blink or flick of the ear, all the birds suddenly knew it wasn't them he was after.  They were right.  He wanted the few bits of kibble, (cat food) that I mix into the birdseed daily.  He seemed to also know that only a few birds ate kibble and the rest wound up on the copse floor, almost calling his name.

He didn't stay long and as purposefully as he came, he went.  I'd never seen him before.  The wife said that he's been around for a while, but this was our first encounter.  He was a polite gentleman and he certainly can stay as long as he doesn't bother any of my feathered friends.

Welcome to the neighborhood, Mr. Confidence, (Mr. C).