The Usual Suspects... by Clarissa Stuart

It isn’t officially winter yet, but the weather has taken a decidely wintery turn. Forecasts of snow are on the local news — although I doubt that anything significant will manifest. It rarely does around here. Still, it is cold enough to need a warm jacket, and near-freezing temps have brought the birds of winter back to my feeders. Yes, all the “usual suspects” are here. They are my little family who visits every year. Black-Capped Chickadees. Bewick’s Wrens. Juncos. House Finches. White-Crowned Sparrows. Song Sparrows. Goldfinches. Red-breasted Sapsuckers. Red-breasted Nuthatches. Bushtits. Ruby-Crowned Kinglets. Starlings. Northern Flickers. Downy Woodpeckers. Townsend’s Warblers. And even an occasional Rufous-Sided Towhee. All come to my feeders, and share their mealtimes with ME. I feel honored for some reason. And I just LOVE to watch them as I sit at the computer. Whenever I see so many different species in my tiny urban yard, I feel as though there is hope for our natural world after all. Yes, I know that is a simplistic view . . . but watching my small friends makes me forget about global warming and war and all the other ugliness that pervades our modern lives.

So, I fill the feeders religiously. I buy the best suet cakes. And I wait for them to come lift my spirits each day. Such a nice reward for such a small investment . . . .