Birdprints

I haven't seen any birds at the feeders since filling them last night; I checked this morning when I woke up and again before I left for work, and then again this afternoon when I came home. No birds at any of the prime feeding times when I looked.

So today I went out there, and although I saw no birds at any of the feeders or even in the thicket or the trees around the yard, I did see evidence that there had been some traffic. There were little birdprints everywhere, overlapping and muddling each other in the snow.


I had thought I would see non-stop feeding since yesterday's snowfall, but I guess they're not coming out during their normal times in the morning and late afternoon. I'll have to check my bird behavior information and see if there's some disruption in feeding schedules caused by snowfall. Is this something real birders know?

Anyway, they must be eating, perhaps during the middle of the day when temperatures are at their highest (though today, I don't think we got out of the teens, so I don't know how much higher those mid-day temps would be than in the morning or the evening). I'm glad that they are getting some food, although the feeders were still pretty full and there was still uneaten seed on the ground underneath all of them (I throw some there for the ground feeders).

All the little footprints were cute, though it was difficult to make out any individual ones. I did see these prints, though:


When I saw this little scene, I thought of the lines in that poem you always see all over the place, especially in the tchochke shops, the one about the footprints--I'm sure you all know the one I mean. So I'm looking at these little prints, wondering if they're birdprints or mouseprints or meadow vole prints, and suddenly I thought:
"When you saw only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."

Now, I don't want to offend anyone, but I don't believe in heaven or hell or any supernatural being who's carrying you around through the rough times. (sorry, Mom) Still, those rather syrupy lines just popped into my head and I thought it funny given the context, so I took a photo. I was brought up Catholic, and it's hard to escape religion in all its many forms and manifestations in the current political climate. Still, these prints are clearly those of a small animal. And he's probably carrying just himself. And maybe some sunflower seeds.