Tabletop bird-watching

Give me space on the chair, not on the table like you…you damn, cuddly, adorable, loveable, tabletop-hogging, bird-watching sisters.

I wanna look out the window, too!  What do you see?  It sure looks interesting to me.

Oh, yes, it’s the birds, of course.  With the arrival of wind-blowing spring, they are busy building their nests.  They’re flying in from the forest to rest.  Or pause to take a bath.  Flitting back and forth to the trees, to the fence, to the deck, and stopping momentarily in front of us at the hummingbird feeder, then they’re off again.

Sometimes I think that the point of birdwatching is not the actual seeing of the birds, but the cultivation of patience.  Of course, each time we set out, there’s a certain amount of expectation we’ll see something, maybe even a species we’ve never seen before, and that it will fill us with light.  But even if we don’t see anything remarkable – and sometimes that happens – we come home filled with light anyway. – Lynn Thomson, Birding with Yeats:  A Mother’s Memoir

The birds are fun to watch, but I’m more interested in looking out at all the green popping up!  It’s so nice to see.  Cats can’t see the vivid colors like me, but it doesn’t stop them from gawking via a prime location where they can see all the action in the yard.

I think the most important quality in a birdwatcher is a willingness to stand quietly and see what comes.  Our everyday lives obscure a truth about existence – that at the heart of everything there lies a stillness and a light. – Lynn Thomson, Birding with Yeats:  A Mother’s Memoir

Every window Tizzie looks out, she’s mesmerized.

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Dessy takes the lower level most of the time.  It’s easier for her to navigate there – especially with the wide redundant fluff she carries around.

It’s no mystery she’s found it best to stay on the ground.

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Binoculars, and a hawk-like vigilance, reduce the disadvantage of myopic human vision. – J.A. Baker, The Peregrine: The Hill of Summer Diaries:  The Complete Works of J.A. Baker

It’s a tad exhausting birdwatching out the window all day.  Around supper time, after being fed once again, the cats settle into spots to take a nap.  Poor ol’ Dessy, it appears it’s a lot of work going from floor to tabletop.

She’ll even sleep so soundly that she snores, or snorts, or a combination of sorts.

And when I attempt to catch her in the act, she covers her face.

Or…she gives me the finger (paw)…

Jeez, Dessy is such a rebel…good thing Tizzie doesn’t mind the camera!

She knows when she’s got it good.  Humans should know by now that clean laundry shall not go on the table without being promptly and properly slept upon by a cat.  Okay, yeah, so Tizzie’s a rebel, too.

Tabletop sisters, I tell ya…they keep me and my camera entertained.

Post Inspiration:  Cee’s Black & White:  Through a Window