Snowy Day

Bird feeder has a magnetic ray,

Draws flocks of birds — to the window, me.

Black oil sunflower seeds have a say

On feathered friends I’ll likely see.

Categorize by how they eat,

And behavior in their social clime,

Tappers peck at seed held with feet,

Pickers swallow one seed at a time.

Chewers spindle, mutilate and fold,

Use their tongues and strong, dextrous beak,

Gulpers scoop what their mouths can hold,

Swallow, another mouthful seek.

It’s gray outside, blanketed white,

Stark limbs snake aimless arms,

Dark trunks stripe vertical might,

Piney green droops splotchy charms.

Emerald holly, sprinkled ruby red,

Honeysuckle vine a tangled shelter,

Sanctuary if marauding fox tread,

Or Kestrel hawk swoop, helter skelter.

First bird arrives, black, gray, dapper,

Chickadee’s head's comically big,

Pins seed under foot, a tapper,

Breaks through shell its kernel to dig.

Grabs another seed, zooms off to hide,

To work at leisure out of view,

Replaced by gray titmouse, rufous side,

Similar habits — tapper too.

Excited purple finches appear,

He, sprayed raspberry across his front,

She, brown barred feathers front to rear,

Strong beaks crack shells, nuts to hunt.

Feisty goldfinches move in to score,

Winter phase of plumage quite dull,

Seed shells sprinkle on snow-covered floor,

As nut from chaff, tongues deftly cull.

   Female cardinals rust red insistence,

Ensures prime place at feeder’s perch,

Snatch some seeds, disappear at a distance,

Brilliant red male swoops with a lurch.

Chews a few seeds, then quickly away,

Follows mates into honeysuckle jumble,

Bright-eyed juncos check ground-chaff for pay,

For downy woodpeckers, many seeds fumble.

Blue Jays bounce from ground to feeder,

Gulp mouths full of seeds quickly,

Paranoid, follow their leader,

To bush, limbs stiff and prickly.

Nuthatch in neat blue and gray suit,

Approaches his meal from a unique view,

He feeds upside down, gives no hoot

For details of what gravity may do.

Doves seem to be at quite difficult means

To make use of feeder perches’ role,

Cerulean eyelids, pearlescent sheens,

Unbalanced, they gulp the seeds whole.

Exotics visit, sometimes a few

Crossbills and grosbeaks have quickly dined,

Rose-breasted, dark back, wings are marked too,

 A few seeds, then next station must find.

Dynamics of feeder scene,

Flash and motion I enjoy,

Birds fight, sometimes mean,

And flog in competitive ploy.

The crowd grows, ‘til wave of fear,

Covey bursts to safe hideout,

Begin again when coast is clear,

Ones, and twos, the danger flout.

A hundred or more birds come and go,

Flashing deeply in this wooded place,

Motion is consistent ebb and flow,

Color and action grace feeder’s face.

Yes, feeder has a magnetic ray,

Draws flocks of birds — to the window, me.

I love it there on a snowy day,

The ever-changing show — it’s free.