There’s a pair of cardinals that unexpectedly began to visit us each day.
Obviously, I named them Biggles and Fang.
Amongst their weaponry are such diverse elements as fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the pope, and pointy orange beaks.
Unfortunately, they’re small, and tend to fly away if I go anywhere near them with a camera, so no pictures yet. However, Biggles sometimes attacks his reflection in the window, so maybe some day…
On Friday, I was gazing out into the back yard when I saw a hawk swoop towards the house, turn to the side at the last moment, and try to grab a squirrel from the fence.
I’m glad to report that he failed, but the squirrel was clearly very disturbed by his near death encounter. He leapt onto the trunk of the nearest tree, and called out—a type of sound I hadn’t heard from a squirrel before. It was a kind of squeak, starting low in pitch and going higher. I’m assuming it’s squirrel for “Holy crap, guys, look out, there’s a bird of prey around!”
As I sit here, two chickadees just landed on the windowsill of the office window, and peered in at me.
(They’re the official state bird of MA.)