A Bird in the Bush

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. 

That's what the ancient proverb says. But Randy has been hoping for birds in the bushes underneath the old windmill tower in the backyard.

Last summer, he put up a hummingbird feeder. The bright red, flower-shaped feeder filled with sweet nectar didn't attract a single visitor. I was hoping for hummingbirds to visit, too. They remind me of my Sublette grandparents, who had a hummingbird feeder right outside their dining room window. The tiny visitors flitted and flirted outside the window that looked out onto one of my grandparents' perfectly-manicured gardens. The hummingbirds often joined my grandparents for breakfast.

We don't have perfectly manicured gardens around here. Perhaps that was the problem. As winter approached, Randy changed gears and added a regular bird feeder instead. He filled it with bird feed and waited. And waited. And waited some more.

You've heard the real estate maxim: Location, location, location? Maybe that was the problem.

The feeder is only a pounce or two away from the cat bowls in the backyard. I imagined the birds sounding a bit like Tweety Bird on that old Saturday morning cartoon: "I tought I saw a puddycat. I did, I did see a puddycat." The birds weren't falling for that.

But, with the snow covering the ground for days and days, we finally had a visitor or two to our backyard buffet. I belong to a Facebook group, Snapshot Kansas. I'm always admiring the beautiful cardinals and bluejays that my fellow Kansas photographers catch in pixel perfection.

Our visitors aren't dressed in colorful plumage like actresses walking the red carpet on their way to the Academy Awards. But we like down-home visitors at our house anyway.

I'm not a bird aficionado, so I don't know what kind of bird has come to call. (You are more than welcome to tell me!) But today, on this Valentine's Day, it's a love bird, since we love to see the birds stopping by for a quick snack. Let's just hope the cats don't make a quick bite of them. That wouldn't be a suitable ending for a Valentine's Day tale.