#the nuthatches also took about half an hour to realize they didn't have to be afraid of our cats

[theradioghost]

there is a hilarious cycle that has developed at our birdfeeder recently, starting with our most dedicated regular, The Extremely Angry And Territorial Solitary Chickadee Who Lives In Our Yard. he has recently been supplanted by a pair of red-breasted nuthatches, male and female, who always appear together. they are just barely enough bigger than him that despite several Tiny Bird Fights he has been forced to wait for them to leave briefly before sneaking in to get his snacks.

the real gold, though, is the nuthatches. the male always arrives first and immediately begins chucking out beakfulls of millet and smaller seeds. you can hear the little clicking sounds of millet hitting the house and window and the decking. he does this until he finds a sunflower seed, and then he leaves to make room for his partner, who just sticks her beak in, pokes around a little, and comes out with a sunflower seed, and they both fly off to a nearby tree to eat them. they do this every single time. thankfully, this behavior seems to magically summon a horde of dark-eyed juncos, who don't seem to like going up to the feeder one at a time and are ecstatic to be able to eat all the millet off the deck. the chickadee doesn't find any of this as funny as I do.