Backyard Politics
Yesterday started off with drama in our backyard. The Blue Jays who have become so accustomed to Brent that they sit by him when he’s reading out there were making such a racket that I went out to see what was up. Before I went out, Brent said, I’ll bet that cat’s out there, and he was right. Magnet, the neighborhood cat who recently discovered how comfortable our new seat cushions are, was resting on one of them. The Jay was perched on the chair next to Magnet screaming his lungs out, letting his partner know that danger was afoot. Not good. So, I gathered Magnet up, took her up the street, and thought that was the end of it. Within a few minutes, though, the momma and poppa Jays were frantic again. Kaw, kaw, kaw as loud as can be as if they were imploring me to get out here NOW! So out I went. Magnet the cat was back, this time responding to the Jay rather than ignoring him. Not a good sign. So, I picked her up again, said no, Magnet, as if she were a dog who understands English, and took her back down the street, then blocked her return to our patio with a wall of pillows. But that wasn’t the end of it. I’d just sat down to write when I heard the Jays’ desperate Kaws again. Meanwhile, the question of whether intervening is the right thing to do, or if Nature’s violence should be free to take its course, was dominating my thoughts. I had other things to do. I wanted to write all day, not get in the middle of interspecies warfare. But The Jays are our friends, the underdog, as it were, and they probably have little Jays in their nest, so I went out again, this time with a broom, and there was Magnet under our neighbor’s car, or so I thought. When I shooshed her with the broom to move her along, it wasn’t Magnet at all. It was a much larger, much stronger brown cat with no collar and killer eyes. Damnit! Were the cats in cahoots? Or was it possible that our gentle-seeming Magnet was trying to warn the Jays about the big brown cat? Alerting them so they could Kaw into action? All I know for sure is that it was quiet after the big brown cat disappeared, and that and it’s mighty quiet out there today. Brent assures me that if the worst has happened, Momma and Pappa Jay will learn to build a less vulnerable nest next time.
The particular bird that we mid-valley birders have been working to restore is the western bluebird. Humans have been the cause of their decline bc they like to nest in tree cavities which are created from huge branches on big old trees rotting off or the trunks rotting away. We humans don’t like big old rotting trees so they are few & far between. I’m on the Bluebird Trail initiated by Elsie Elsroth in the 70’s. She’s gone now & her volunteers too but the Audubon Society has taken over. They monitor all my nest boxes, not just bluebirds as some other songbirds are helpful in warning off the predators so nice to provide nest boxes for them too.
You’ve probably seen the bluebird boxes along the pasture on the way up to the Mulkey Creek trail if you hike over there. Those are supposed to be monitored also, but not sure. I could go on all day about birds!
Ah... the birds. In my case, the Redwing black birds - the burly bullies on the block. I can't ignore the Redwings, but I've bought smaller feeders so the smaller birds can snack without fighting for a place at the table. Love your line, "as though the cat were a dog who understands English." Unfortunately, cats are not dogs.