Participant Photo: Warm meal on a cold winter’s day

Putting out seed and suet to feed the birds that feeders attract is an engaging way to pass time especially in the winter. I often spend hours every day watching the birds feed and interact from the comfort of my living room window. Birds such as Black-capped chickadees, Red-breasted nuthatches, Dark-eyed juncos, American goldfinches and of course Northern Flickers are the standard fare through the wind, snow, sleet, hail and blizzards that winter brings. I’ve also come to accept that where I create a place for birds to gather and feed, so too does it provide a place for predatory birds to hunt and feed as well. It’s taken me a little while to get used to losing one of “my birds” to predation, but this is the cycle of life that I am reminded of when that happens. Now when I witness a Sharpie swoop in and catch himself a meal, I don’t only mourn for the finch, I cheer for the hawk too. All of our winged creatures need to eat and it as a good thing that the hawk has caught himself another warm meal on a cold winter’s day.