Friday, April 12, 2013

A Day looking Out the Window with my Cats.

Dark-eyed Junco
 I had the day off today so I decided to take a little bit of time and spend it with my cats. With school, work, photography, volunteer stuff and the blog it seems as though I don't spend a lot of time around the house. We have two cats that are completely indoor cats. Peanut who is our younger female cat is very sweet but has a kind of demonic side. Magic the larger male is very easy going but has a hard time sitting still. Today I was petting peanut as she looked out the window with extreme interest at the dark-eyed juncos hopping around the front yard. I felt sorry for the junco because last weekend most of the snow was gone and they were having a great time rusting through the leaves and other debris in the woods out front looking for seeds. Unfortunately for us all we got a couple of inches of snow over the past couple of days which has made it more difficult for them to find food. I am sure that it will melt soon, it is mid April after all, and the juncos will eat until they head north. Birds are one reason why our cats do not go outside, unless we are watching them. Cats are the largest cause of songbird mortality  Domestic cats are not a natural predator in North America, and, as such, the native species of birds are not adapted to deal with them. Besides every time I see a cat on the side of the road that has been hit by a car I think how I would feel if it was one of my cats that was dead.



5 comments:

Lea said...

Beautiful bird portrait!
Have a wonderful week-end!
Lea
Lea's Menagerie

Shey said...

Im sure Magic & Peanut are glad for your company. Nice shot of the junco too. Hopefully the snow will melt soon to make it easier for the birds. Have a great weekend!

Elizabeth Edwards said...

nice shot. ( :
enjoy your day.

Anni said...

Our area, there are a lot of feral cats, and they love our yard [bird feeders galore] and if I'm home I tend to commit myself to chasing the cats away.

We also have two cats...totally indoor cats, Tahoe and Winston. Not only keeping them indoors saves bird life, it also keeps our cats healthy; away from harm and disease.

Beautiful Junco

Cheryl said...

I have a birding friend who's passionate about informing people about the devastation domestic cats wreak on the birds, especially the migratory endangered species. I don't put feeders out because all of our neighbors let their cats roam free.