Hiding The Birds!

  Since my days are limited to the small gardens, I have become quite acquainted with the few critters that visit daily.  In the recreated "Puddle Pond", a few tiny frogs are happy to provide chirps, six fat squirrels raid the bird feeder and dozens of birds come to visit.  I consider all of them to be my friends and they do not seem to mind my prattle.  They sit and stare while I hold conversations with them pretending they can answer.  (Yes, life with limits is boring but, at least, it is still life! Life is good.)

  It is not often that a large predator makes its way into the small gardens.  Most are quite dubious about the fences.  Birds of prey, however, are not bound by fences.  One visited.  It broke my heart.  On an early morning stroll in the east side of the small gardens, I noticed something white fluttering in the soft breeze.  On closer inspection, that "something white" turned out to be a small feather.  Then, I stumbled upon a mound of feathers.  These belonged at one time to a mourning dove.  My heart was breaking as I knew that the pair had just fledged their two little ones.  The family of four was now down to three.  One of the adults fell prey to a hawk.

  Doves have a funny (and useless) defense when threatened by a predator.  The birds, being mostly ground feeders, simply squat in place.  They do not seek shelter among the brambles as the cardinals do nor do they put up a collective fight like the blue jays.  They sit. They simply sit.  They are literally "sitting doves"...a play on the old saying "sitting ducks".  This sitting makes them prime targets for hawks.   A hawk can swoop down, grab the dove and never miss a wing beat.  It is that easy for them. Hawks pluck the feathers of a captured songbird before eating it.

  With the realization that I was fattening the songbirds for a hawk's dining pleasure, I have amended my ways.  Instead of overfilling the feeder, I now put enough there to satisfy the squirrels but sprinkle lots of seeds under the benches, large leafed plants and vine arbors.  Small birds can easily scavenge the brambles but a hawk's wings cannot navigate there.  The birds are safer there.  My friends sometimes need a bit of protection and I am happy to provide it for them.