Back when I was in a relationship, I would help my girlfriend take care of the many beautiful songbirds that visited her backyard garden. I would purchase hot chili bird seed (squirrels hate it, but birds love it), and the feeder would be packed with visiting goldfinches and blue jays and cardinals and nuthatches and downy woodpeckers.
But I don’t have a girlfriend any more. And that still makes me sad.
Now one could think that I could simply purchase a bird feeder, hang it outside my front porch, and bring all the songbirds to my home. But that doesn’t work in Green Island; there’s actually a town ordinance that forbids front yard bird feeders. No, seriously. Front yard birdfeeders, according to town law, attract other nuisance animals, who leave their droppings all over the place. Trust me. Every year, our mayor has to take a sound cannon around the Town and Village to chase away the geese.
So all we get for “native” birds are some crows, pigeons and house sparrows. Maybe the occasional eagle along the Hudson River, but those are rare.
Yesterday I attached a telephoto lens to my Nikon Df and just went outside, hoping to capture maybe a passing cardinal who lost his way, or a blue jay who needed a resting branch.
All I could find were crows.
And even then … this was the best picture I could snag.
Maybe down the road I’ll see songbirds again.
Or maybe I’ll actually feel worthy to see songbirds.
Because right now … emotionally … I feel like all I deserve are crows.
Chuck The Writer 
Out here, crows effectively keep the hawks away from the songbirds.
Try a feeder out back and use only black oil sunflower seed. That other millet, milo and wheat crap is just filler and winds up on the ground (for those pigeons, and mice.)
Once the sparrows find it they’ll spread the word. Then, just open the window, listen, and enjoy.
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