At a quarter to five a flock of Robins suddenly arrived in the yard; they worked their way from one side to the other in a rough line. Making a loud rustling noise all out of proportion to their diminutive size they turned leaves over and charged one another in their search for dinner.
A second avian wave commenced about fifteen minutes later. Chickadees, White Breasted Nuthatches and a pair of Cardinals arrived at the back feeder. For a short time the female cardinal defended the feeder against all interlopers until she had eaten her fill and flew off. Then the chickadees and nuthatches, with the sound of fluttering wings and quiet chirps, made repeated trips, each time taking a single seed in their beaks then flying to a nearby tree. All of this activity was interesting in itself but I became part of the act when one chickadee flew from the feeder to the roof of the house, then the table next to me, then the top of the baseball hat I was wearing. I imagined that I would be an amusing sight to any neighbor that looked out and saw me reading my book with a bird perched on my head. After a few moments it flew off.
For ten minutes or so the backyard's airspace was busier than a major international airport with departures and arrivals. Eventually the birds' appetites were sated with only a few latecomers appearing sporadically. I waited a little while to let the fire burn down then decided it was time to forage for my own dinner.
