365 Project - Day 213

It's raining today and for some reason, the garden is extremely busy. The doves seem to be here to stay, birds have been constantly in and out. The feeders, though one is empty and the other nearly so, have been filled with birds. And though I wasn't sure we would attract them, I hung a hummingbird feeder and that, too, is well, humming!

I have grown weary of chopping down tree branches and chasing squirrels off the feeders. I told my husband the other day that once the bird seed I have is gone, I will call this phase of my life done. The squirrels have won; I'm tired of them stealing bird food. Yet, I do love watching the birds. It's just those crazy, cunning squirrels that are making me absolutely nuts.

For those of you that know this frustration with squirrels, there is one benefit. Doves, Cardinals and Robins appear to prefer to eat off the ground. It may be that they are simply too large for the feeder, but most of the time they are strutting low, rather than soaring high. I'm fairly certain that the small birds are not chucking enough food down to the ground. Yet when the squirrels jump and miss or when I chase them down, they shake enough loose. In fact, this morning the doves were completely unfazed by me clapping the squirrels away. The doves just patiently waited for me to go back inside and kept eating.

The moral of this is that while I might not like them, if I want to enjoy every type of bird, there is some advantage to the devilish thieves. Truth. And, nature again has its way. Have any "squirrels" in your life?

I like the way the squirrels are depicted in this photograph. It seems a vibrant illustration of part of Emerson's Law of Compensation.

Best wishes!

Today's Photo: Thieves!

"Everything has two sides, a good and an evil. Every advantage has its tax. I learn to be content." Ralph Waldo Emerson






EXIF: Nikon D7100
ISO 400
240mm
f4
1/180s