For a song

When I first came downstairs this morning, still in my pajamas, the sound of several birds chirping nearby somehow managed to penetrate the foggy wasteland that was my brain. I went over to the window by my bird feeder and pulled up the blind, only to see an empty feeder rocking back and forth. So I hauled the window open, then went back upstairs to change and get ready for work.

As I was on my way back down I heard the chirping again, so I crept down the next few steps until I could see the window—sure enough, it was being used by some Song Sparrows. I took my time walking into the room, snagged my camera (sometimes it pays to be too lazy to put it in the camera case at night), and ended up getting some fairly decent shots.

I can't remember whether this one was arriving or departing:



I liked the way the lowest one seems to be peeking out underneath the bird above:



Occasionally, one would sit on my window sill to enjoy its meal:



A parent feeding its fledgling:







I'm pretty sure this is the most birds I've seen on my feeder at one time:



I suspect the bird with its wing extended presumed the bird already sitting there would move when it came in for a landing. It didn't:



And eventually the other bird gave up, opting to try an empty perch instead:



About a minute after I took the last two pictures a car came around the corner of the drive, causing the birds to scatter and apparently head out for parts unknown—the feeder remained empty for the rest of the morning. Which, in retrospect, was probably a good thing. Otherwise, I might have looked up and realized I had about five minutes to get breakfast before I had to drive to work...