After the ice storm, the sunflower seeds just slid right off the rocks where I’d been putting them for the birds. I had to find a new location.
I had noticed that the cardinals and several of the smaller birds liked to hang out in the branches of the young pine at the curve of the retaining wall at the back of the yard. They would grab seeds from the rocks and take them there to eat beneath its protective branches. So it seemed a fine spot for opening a new diner for my little friends,
“Here you go!” I sang to them as I scattered seeds beneath the tree’s boughs. “Little Pine Cafe is open for business!”
The grand opening was a success. The juncos and chickadees rushed right in. Then the cardinals came, followed by the doves, the woodpecker, and, at last, the jays.
This morning a second pair of cardinals came, newcomers to the yard. The place was full and reminded me of the donut shop in town where the old men gathered to gossip over donuts and coffee in the morning.
Then, to my surprise, a final guest arrived, a fellow rarely seen in these parts. The jays scattered at his appearance, but the cardinals and the little birds paid him no mind at all. He was quite splendid I thought, in his gray snowsuit with his whiskered face and bushy tail. He ate his fill, then scampered away.
The word, it seems, is getting around.