I am not nearly ready to think of Christmas trees. I'm not even ready to accept the snow drifting by my window outside today. But I am thinking of all the little birds who gave me such pleasure all summer, and who stick around all winter hoping to find enough to eat. My flowers may be dead (more hopefully, they are merely napping) but many of the birds remain, adding life and color to my yard. I have been feeding them all summer, and now they flutter by cheerfully, checking to see what's on the menu today. So I may decorate a tree after all, not for Christmas, but for my little friends.
All summer the little black capped chickadees would hop on a branch directly above me twittering if I didn't fill the feeder fast enough. Scores of other birds stopped by the feeder next to the gazebo for a visit--enough that I finally brought my bird identification book outdoors so I could put names to my little guests. I was totally tickled to find that the little greyish brown bird twittering in the apple tree was a tufted titmouse--even the name is enchanting. I was even more thrilled to find that they weren't just transients--they had moved in and planned to stay for the winter.
Come winter even the garden that I planted specifically for winter color will be lost to me under drifts of snow. But if I keep my feeders filled, I will still see titmice, chickadees, woodpeckers looking like they are wearing little pinstriped tuxedos, and the welcome red flash of the cardinal. So I plan to keep the feeders well-filled.
Actually, if you've been feeding the birds all summer, it isn't just a selfish desire to see life and motion in the winter garden that should keep you filling the feeders. By putting out a daily ration of sunflower seeds and millet, you have created a flock of dependents. They may not merit a tax deduction--but to neglect them now could eliminate those particular birds from the landscape forever. Rather than foraging through the berries and seeds of the landscape, they have come to rely on your generosity to keep them fat and healthy. Now they are reduced to whatever twigs and berries winter has left for them to snack on. It would be base cruelty to withdraw your support just as the hardest part of their year approaches.
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