While we wait for the Yew Avenue house in Redmond to become ours, I enjoy camping in our daughter’s farm house north of the little town of Tumalo here in Central Oregon. I’ve grown fond of the deer that graze the ten acre pasture, especially one little buck. He gathered a harem of ten does, and then a monster big buck ran him off. (Hmm…why does that sound familiar?)
But I most enjoy the birds that come to the feeder outside the sliders to the deck. I can sip my coffee at the table and watch the squabbles among the gathering of purple finches, Oregon Juncos, and sparrows. Two blue jays are occasional visitors who simply run the little birds off for a while. I wasn’t impressed by their bully tactics until a magpie tried to horn in. The jays simply ran him off, and while they were chasing the magpie, the little birds moved back in on the feeder. Kings of the feeder, however, are two big red shafted flickers. They all leave when those guys shows up.
There are bullies among the little birds as well, a somber reminder that Mother Nature is harsh. I watch and try to figure out why one small bird is more aggressive than the rest. A pecking order among sparrows? Among our sweet little birds? Count on it.
Rod
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