For the past couple of weeks I have noticed that occasionally a bird has been hopping around on our balcony. I don’t know if it is the same bird or even what kind of bird it is, but what I do know is that when the bird is on the balcony the kitties are mighty interested.
Now, I must admit that since I am a crazy cat lady, I am not really a bird person. I defend the right of an outdoor cat to have a tasty bird meal if he can catch it and would never put a bell on a cat’s collar to protect the birds. I have never owned a bird feeder and have never been too eager to have one: It just seems to me that the only “benefit” of owning a bird feeder is that you invite all the neighborhood birds to gather and leave their droppings all over wherever you put the feeder.
However, the kitties’ interest in the birds on the balcony got me to thinking that it might be entertaining (for them and me) to put something out on the balcony to draw a few more birds our way a little more often… sort of like reality TV for the cats if you will.
After contemplating the situation, I decided that instead of a regular bird feeder, what might be nice would be some of those little “bird balls…” you know, the ones that have bird seed rolled up in some fat and then packed into a little net. They don’t seem to be very messy, are small enough they should only attract a few birds, and instead of putting them directly on the balcony, I can tie them to the rails.
So yesterday when we went to the local home improvement market I picked up some “bird balls” and this morning I hung one out on the balcony. All afternoon I waited for a bird to come along so I could point it out to the cats and our fun could begin, but alas, we had no luck. As evening drew near, I came to the conclusion that since the birds were not used to bird food on our balcony it might take a few days for the birds to find it.
Then as I was drawing the shades, I looked down onto the yard of the couple that lives under and to the right of us and saw that they have no less than three bird feeders in their yard! In addition to the bird feeders, they have also spread birdseed all over the snow and birds of all shapes and sizes were merrily munching away on their birdseed while my bird ball hung limply from the balcony rail, depriving my kitties of their entertainment.
I was offended. I had seen the neighbor’s bird feeders before, but never the birdseed scattered in the snow. It seemed to me that these “bird hogs” were purposely drawing the neighborhood birds away from my bird ball (and my kitties) and into their yard with the promise of easy birdseed.
For now I will relax and try to be patient: Perhaps in their excitement over the birdseed on the ground the neighborhood birds failed to locate my bird ball. However, if I don’t see some birds pecking away at my bird balls in the next few days, I am afraid I will have no choice but to declare a birdseed war on my neighbors!