A Snippet of Life

Outside my window is a small lawn. At the far corner is a patch of trees. A frequent visitor, or resident, is a blackbird with a bright orange beak. A brave little fellow who doesn’t fly away at first sight of a human.

My wife throws out (expensive) wholegrain bread for the birds each day. We used to get dozens of birds feeding, of at least four different species, but recently I’ve only seen the blackbird.

A son and daughter-in-law have been staying with us for the last few months while they renovate a house to live in. They have a domestic cat like the one in the movie “Bob”, only theirs is cross-eyed.

Now one might blame the cat for the missing birds. But cats feeding on birds tend to leave bird body parts lying around and I’ve seen none. Cross-eyed, the cat probably couldn’t successfully pounce on a bird, anyhow.

Could the visiting birds have died off (sorry, darling) from eating the unnatural food my wife throws them? Or is there another cause for their disappearance?

I hope the blackbird, at least, sticks around. Seeing wildlife adds richness to our experiences.