Today was a slow day at work. JT wasn't feeling well, so she took the day off. I had been going to go out in the canoe and explore the far side of the lake for awhile, but we were threatened w/thunderstorms, so that was out. I have a whole list of names and e-mail addresses to add to the computer, but haven't a clue as to how to do it, and so far, no one's had the time to show me, so that was out as well. I was alone in the nature center, but I wasn't alone.
One of the first things I had done when I got to the nature center was to put some bird seed out on the deck. Even though it was cloudy, I still had quite a number of visitors. It probably goes w/out saying that I had squirrels. While I don't like it when they chew up my feeder, they can be fun to watch. And, today was no exception. There were at least 3. One would be sitting quietly eating when another one would come up. That's when the games would begin w/one chasing another one, thru the rails, up over the top and back down again until they tired of their games and all 3 would sit peacefully eating.
Occassionally, I'd see a flash of red when a male cardinal would come to grab a quick bite, then take back off. Less frequently, the female would be seen, but she'd rarely come to the deck.
A family of young titmice were also frequent visitors. Since, they're not quite full grown, the tufts on their heads aren't fully in. They look about like someone took a pair of scissors and snipped it off.
No family of titmice would be complete w/out their distant relative, the chickadees, hanging around as well. But, there weren't as many, nor did they come as often.
Beyond the deck in the trees, I could see a white breasted nuthatch climb the trunk of a tree, circling around it in it's quest for food. Occassionally, I'd have another bird fly quickly up to the deck, grab a bite of food and take off B4 I could see for sure, just a small, reddish brown bird. It could have been a wren, or some type of sparrow.
The storm did come up, and everyone fled for shelter. Later, the squirrels came back as well as a ground hog, and the games started all over.
And, the last time I took it, it didn't rain.
