a peek inside the fishbowl

I was going to title this post “A great gift idea for the bird nerd in your life” but I changed it as soon as I wrote it because anyone can be the beneficiary of a gift of a bird feeder, regardless of how old they are or how much they know about birds.

Birds are a joy, especially when you can see them up close. The black-capped chickadee, of all birds, is a smart little thing with a very big personality. They’re aerial acrobats with an unpredictable temper. Cute, yet scrappy and tough. They’ll steal your heart (along with a seed or two) in the mere blink of an eye and a flap of a wing:

Would you just look at those TINY bodies with their tiny stick legs and tiny toes! Ack. The cuteness kills me.

I bought this inexpensive clear acrylic feeder at Canadian Tire awhile ago. It attaches to a window with suction cups, a system which seemed pretty iffy when I first bought it. It’s not exactly the sturdiest construction, and I wasn’t sure if it would work. Then there was the issue of proximity. Would the birds be brave enough to venture so close to a house, not to mention a big scary window?

Our feeder sat there, untouched, for weeks. I came close to giving up and taking it down. And then, we had a visitor. And then two, and then three, and then SOMEONE spread the news to other neighbourhood birds ROLLED OUT THE WELCOME MAT because it’s now getting daily visits from chickadees and finches.

We’re often sitting on the couch right beside it when we notice someone flying in for a snack. They swoop down for a seed or two, gently landing on the opening to survey the scene. Sometimes they fly away with a big peanut to comic effect, other times they hover and miss altogether, and sometimes they climb inside and hunker down right in the trough for a good ol’ belly-bustin’ chow down. It’s always good for a moment of wonder and amazement, and more often than not a chuckle or exclamation.

A cheep gift indeed!