My cats love to stare out the window.  More than one has slammed into a window trying to catch something.  A bird.  A squirrel…although the squirrels holler back and frequently tease the cats through the windows (and the dogs by running along the top edge of the fence—among other things)…now again the rabbits, especially when we leave the front door open (the screen door firmly secured).

I love to feed the birds.  I love to watch the birds.  I put out birdseed and suet.  I do not fill up the feeder every single day.  Probably every other day.  As soon as I fill up the feeder, some birds come along, shake everything out of it until it is about empty and then start yelling at me to refill it while slurping up the stuff they threw to the ground.  The types of birds that come to eat ae amazing.

Last year we had a family of speckled woodpeckers who ate the suet like it was candy.  We haven’t seen them yet this year, but I didn’t keep the feeders filled consistently over the summer.  I am trying to make up for that now.

Nothing is better for us here though than watching the cats watch the birds (and squirrels, and rabbits, and the outside cats who seem to enjoy congregating around here…and yes, I feed to strays to protect my birds—what can I say?).

Listening to the cats chatter, watching them paw the window or the screen door, watching those tails pounding and swiping, seeing those eager intense little eyes…

And my son, he wants a pet bird, a parrot, a parakeet, anything…for some reason, I keep putting him off about that…although I do tell him with the cats a bird is not a good pet to have.  Luckily, he loves his cats—and they love him (thank goodness)—and he is not willing to give up his cats for a bird.

What about you?  Do you have pets?  Do you feed the birds?  Do you watch them?  What about the stray critters in your neighborhood?

Let me know in the comments below.