The Development

A development has descended upon the Bayou. Not some type of construction or any thing that will make a significant change in life in general here. This development is a group of birds. Something that I just learned .. a group of house finches is called a "development". I just had to use that term today! Yes..there is a group of house finches that has taken up residence on the Hill by the Bayou. This small but growing group first appeared shortly after Hurricane Katrina and has steadily multiplied to a family of about twenty now. They are regarded as a nuisance bird by a lot of so called "birders" who are out to spot the more exotic breeds but personally, I like them. This is one bird that has no qualms of sharing the garden with me. Sometimes, when I am down on my hands and knees pulling weeds, these small feathered friends will be within reach. They are particularly fond of seeds and will shuck out seeds from the pods left dangling at the end of a season. There were several kale plants that went to seed and I was pleasantly surprised to see a pair of these finches taking a meal. It is unusual in the critter world to ever see a nice deed being shared between two birds or animals, but today was a different story. The brightly colored male house finch was shelling the seeds out of the pods and feeding them to the female. I was fortunate enough to observe this little ritual and even more fortunate to have my camera with me while it was occurring. I was afraid that I would not get any pictures at first since they were so close to me and my camera was rigged with the zoom lens. My camera makes assorted noises when I turn it on but removing the zoom lens sounds a lot like a little pig stuck in a fence. I slowly started turning the lens and the squealing commenced. The finches stopped feeding and cocked their little heads as if to ask.."What in the world do you think you are doing?" I turned it again.. squeal! Surely, they would fly away and my photo ops would fly away with them. Squeak.. squeak .. squeak.. one more turn should do the trick.. squeak ..off came the lens. My little friends were still there! I snapped the first picture and the camera turned off. What?? Oh no..now the batteries were dead! Maybe I was not supposed to take these pictures at all. I always carry several extra sets of charged batteries with me but they were in my jeans pocket and the position that I was sitting made it difficult to reach them. I really wanted those pictures! Slowly and carefully I rose to a crouch.. reached into the pocket and retrieved the batteries. That done, I started snapping pictures again. The finches never flinched! I got my pictures and they got their fill of kale seeds. Everyone was happy! I have noticed a strange habit of these small birds, while all other songbirds go to the birdbath to drink.. the house finches raid the hummingbird feeders. It is not unusual to see four or five of them drinking from the feeders during the day. I guess they just like a flavored water!