WHERE'S FRED?

The bird feeders were hung by my office window with care, and suddenly birds were everywhere!  I was so happy to be able to sit there and work and watch the antics of Fred, my favorite blue jay.  He is smaller than most of the others, and his tail is a bit crooked, almost like he fought a cat and won.  No wonder, if that was the case, he ruled the feeder!

There was the loud, tiny chickamouse, a yellow finch and a purple finch, the brightest red cardinals I have ever seen, and big, aggressive, beautiful blue jays, and two woodpeckers would even visit once in awhile and tap into the free food. 

I would think that sometimes they were watching me as intently as I was watching them.  As a matter of fact, I believe they were.  Maybe it was me behind the glass while they strolled the world on wing, stopping at the nearest drive-thru for some lunch and a sip out of the angel bath, who was the zoo animal there for their viewing pleasure.  Because a couple of nights ago, I moved the feeders out under the ash tree, stocked them with fresh food from Rural King, which they love, and the population has greatly diminished.  It was the pooping on my patio chairs that forced the change.  The morning after it was moved, a blue jay landed on the back of one of the chairs and sat there looking confused and unhappy.  He looked at me and shrugged his shoulders, his pretty blue wingtips out like hands, his eyes questioning..."Where the heck is the food?  What's happening to this city?  Tearing down everyone's favorite hangouts?  Even the pub down the street closed up yesterday."  And with one more woe-is-me look, off he flew, and I have not seen him again.

I have a hose.  The mess wasn't THAT outrageous.  I think a lot of times they actually held it while on the chair, otherwise, it would have been awful.  I am hoping that if I move it back, the zoo will open for them once more and they will buy their nice little maps at the gate and find me behind my glass, doing what humans do, pecking away behind a computer screen, and doing it proudly for the birds' pleasure!