From my window…

From my window I can observe the court of the reigning king of the hill. This prince of the porch reigns supreme as no one is willing to stand up (or fly) to challenge him. His desire: to save all the suet for himself. This king is no magnanimous monarch, there is no generosity associated with his rule. This iron-fisted (and feather clad) ruler accepts no rebukes from those seemingly stronger or more able. One must admire his tenacity as he has ruled for some time, something about him has kept his challengers at bay. He seems to be feared by all denizens of the kingdom. When he is not overseeing his court others approach cautiously to gather what nourishment they can from the king’s stores. They know they must hurry for soon the mockingbird king will come.

As I watch I can see another who could take command. He is a more benevolent aristocrat who could challenge for the throne, but alas something is keeping him from taking charge. Physically he appears to be more than able to assume command. He is more mild mannered than the current king, more unassuming, and more even-tempered. Perhaps this is why he waits. Maybe he is of a patient, calculating, and intelligent nature and has a plan. He must hurry, for the subjects of the malevolent mockingbird monarch are growing hungry and frustrated with their attempts to feed their families. Until that day the kingdom waits, secretly hoping that the regime of the old king will be replaced by the rule of a kinder and gentler king. For now his sovereignty remains unchallenged, but one of these days someone will dethrone the king.


Mockingbirds are known to be territorial and this one is no exception. He guards the feeders most of the day preventing any other birds from partaking of the food. At least twice this week the mockingbird chased birds into our windows, fortunately none have been hurt. The mockingbirds we have are good in a way. They chase the crows away so we never have to worry about them. They love eating the grasshoppers in the summer which reduces the damage the grasshoppers can cause in the yard. Unfortunately the mockingbirds seem to like peanut butter suet. The woodpecker in the picture above doesn’t not get along well with the mockingbird. I really think the woodpecker could win in an altercation with the mockingbird but he just isn’t as aggressive. I think once more food becomes available the mockingbirds will abandon the suet feeder for live game. At least that is my hope!

3 thoughts on “From my window…”

  1. Nice pictures. I don’t think I have ever seen a mockingbird eat at my suet feeders. What am I doing wrong? The woodpeckers come. I do have a resident mockingbird that I am trying to teach to do a cat whistle. Can you imagine a neighbor outside and the mockingbird whistles at her or him? What would they think? Do you think it can be done? I don’t see why not but I am not having luck, at least not that I have heard.

    I still did not get an email. Do I have to resubscribe?

  2. I don’t know a thing about teaching a mockingbird but that would be funny if you could teach it to do that. I have heard one imitate a power drill onces so a catcall should be easy enough for them!

    As for the email it should work today sometime between 9-11 AM. I think it is fixed! (I hope anyway!)

Comments are closed.

From my window…

From my window I can see my homemade compost bin, unfinished as it is, with our poor ole jack-o-lantern resting its big orange head on the grass clippings from my last mowing. That relic of a Halloween come and gone will come around again next year in some way. Either as broken down black gold or in the seeds that he left behind. His progeny will most likely grace us next season with lots of little orange gourds ready to be carved and given personalities of their own! Soon I’ll add some leaves to the top of the bin and won’t be able to see our old friend Jack, but he’ll be there. In fact he might even be in my tomatoes next year, who knows?