The Pleasure of Their Company

I recall once reading an essay by Loren Eisely in which he said "I know the kind of watch the birds keep on us." He went on to say how aware they are of our movements, our comings and goings. A few years ago we hung some bird feeders on our deck and started attracting some wildbirds to our yard. Anyone who has these regular visitors will soon find out that they do, indeed, keep a careful watch on us humans!

When I put the first feeder up nothing happened for a few days; then one afternoon I came home and noticed two American goldfinches happily feeding. They stayed there for half an hour and I very much enjoyed watching them from my kitchen window as I made supper. This was the beginning of what I call "the regulars" - about ten goldfinches visit daily and occasionaly we have purple finches and siskins. A group of chipping sparrows were regulars for several weeks one spring and several song sparrows come quite often. I always love a visit from the same two or three mourning doves with their soft coos and beautiful soft colouring. Five rather racous bluejays have now become rather demanding when "their" personal daily treat is not readily available. They make a rather odd call and jump around almost questioningly looking and sounding very much as if they are saying "where is it? where is it?" Lately, a couple of grackles have been coming to the jays' feeder; the other morning an adult with two little ones appeared and the adult appeared to be giving instructions as to how to access this delicious meal. When I have suet out in the fall and winter woodpeckers and chickadees are often visitors and small groups of juncos are quite common. Last summer I added a hummingbird feeder and it was an instant hit, although I understand hummers are territorial and I've never seen more than one or two at the feeder.

Watching my regulars is a small thing maybe, but it has added so much enjoyment to my day. They are amazing little creatures and provide so much pleasurable company. It's common for us now to say things like "the finches were here" or "I saw the sparrows this morning." And they certainly do keep a watch on us, as much as we keep a watch on them!