Fickle weather

Soggy snow this morning, sunshine this afternoon, heavy clouds and a beautiful sky at sunset. What next? Who knows, but no matter what the weather, it is not hard to enjoy a walk in the park. This morning my pocket was full of peanut chips. Placing a handful on the bench, I walked away. When I returned about five minutes later, birds were everywhere and what a variety: a red-bellied woodpecker, lots of cardinals, both male and female, two different kinds of sparrows, a blue jay, and of course, chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice. And they were all ecstatic over the peanuts. I watched a female cardinal feasting on the peanuts when a male cardinal flew right into her space, made threatening noises, and frightened her away, leaving the "victor" to enjoy the spoils peanuts. The blue jay never settled down long enough for a blip, but he made his presence felt, swooping through the air, doing fly-bys over the bench, and unnerving (or at least irritating) the other birds. Watching their antics is both fascinating and fun.