Drama at the feeders!

Perhaps the weatherman was right this time. The small birds that frequent my feeders--Juncos, House Finches, Chickadees and the like--had been gorging themselves frantically. I'd never seen so many feathers all at once at my busy feeders. They must know this ongoing drizzle really will turn to snow, eating in frenzied fashion before needing to roost out of the gale.

I turned my back to warm up my coffee and when I returned to the window, not a single bird could be seen...anywhere. Not in the branches to which they retreat when the bullies come, not even in the bramble of the hedge. They'd simply vanished from sight. What could be happening?

Walking over to another window on the side of the house, I saw a distinctive, fast moving form cut across the gray sky, perching in a very upright fashion tall in the branches above a neighbor's house. This is why the birds scattered!



It watched me for a few moments, then swooped away, searching to fill its belly before the storm hit.

If it ever does. I'm still waiting for some of the white stuff.