Beautiful essay, Rebecca! I, too, love birds. Our feeder is close to the house, and so they mess up our deck, but it's well worth the close up view of our varied feathered friends. They now hang out waiting for food instead of fluttering off.

I love how fierce the small birds are when the dive bomb hawks encroaching on their nests, and how smart the crows are.

My grandson hides in a blind to chase the crows from landing in their fruit trees, but he says the crows are too smart. When they fly over, they turn their heads to look, and spotting him, they continue flying until he's gone.