That Was the Week That Was

A couple of the mourning doves as well as a couple of house finches who visit my rooftop garden here in NYC, got together — at one of my feeders — late this afternoon to nosh, and after nearly emptying it, they wanted to discuss how they survived the hurricane ultimately named Super Storm Sandy, when it slammed the city and surrounding areas a week ago today!

I'm told that these birds' initial plan was to meet to discuss the events of this past week (for the memo re their meeting stated, "that was the week that was" — borrowing a title from an old sit-com).

However, instead of chirping about Sandy, three of the birds seemed to focus their gaze to the northwest, while the other eyed yours truly (through the "window" of my bird-house-style feeder), as seen in the photo-op at the top of today's blog entry.
It seems that most of these birds are aware that a nor'easter is due to hit the city in a few days and, instead of focusing on what happened during Sandy, they may be planning how to get out of town for a few days as Cam might have done. Cam, as you may recall, dear reader, is a cardinal that I've featured in a number of entries here on Blogger and on tumblr; as well as dedicating a movie to her ("Words in my Beak Book One"), which may be viewed on Vimeo. Cam is quite memorable, but perhaps I'm saying that because I adore her; and so for your convenience, I'll post an image of her below.

Cam seems so happy in this image as she "races" towards her food; and yet I have not seen or heard her since the day this picture was taken! I'm afraid she's been killed, even though folks tell me that she may have left due to heavy rains that pounded our area, rains that were ultimately followed by Hurricane Sandy! Cam has disappeared and returned in the past, as I mentioned in a previous post on Blogger, but she was not gone as long as she has been since I last saw her.

Cam was always gracious when she visited my garden, and I'm certain the house finches and mourning doves miss her too; in fact, that may have been a topic of conversation for them, as you also might surmise, dear reader, from another photo-op of their afternoon pow-wow at my Fauna bird-house-style feeder, which I've posted below.

As you can see, two of my house finches are engrossed in a conversation whilst the mourning doves continue to do what they do best — seeing about food! All kidding aside, the finches do seem quite concerned about something; and I'm certain their concerns go beyond their need to ensure their safety during the coming nor'easter, for I believe they miss Cam as much I do! After all, they certainly have enjoyed her company in the past, as evidenced by the images posted below of bygone times in my garden.

Be that as it may, Cam has left us, and perhaps the reason for this is for her to take care of young ones; as I thought she appeared to be doing this in an image posted below (which was taken in September).

The strange thing is that during the months in which Cam came to visit me, I only saw her beau on one or two occasions. (Was he her boy toy or hubby?) As of this posting, Cam has been missing since around October 20th, and, now, since Hurricane Sandy has come and gone, Cam's significant other has been noshing with what appears to be great pleasure; as evidenced in the photo-op below, where he is giving me the same look that she used to.

(This image is also posted on tumblr with a little story.)

In any event, he has been coming— with no sign of her — nearly every day since Hurricane Sandy, and it appears (in the images below) that he likes the feeding system that I set  up with my friend Michael this past Monday — in the rain — as we prepared my garden and feeders for the storm.

Cardinal Dines Alone . . . 

... but not for long once mourning dove discovers the feeding system

"Bunk-Bed" Style Dining:
Morning Dove (top) and Cardinal (bottom)

Soon after the lone cardinal and this mourning dove took to our Hurricane Sandy feeding system, other birds subsequently enjoyed it throughout the week, as you can surmise from the pictures below.

House Finch AND Mourning Dove are Cautious Before Eating!

House Finch Stands Guard as Mourning Dove Indulges!

Two Mourning Doves Study Our Feeding System
(And Ultimately NOSH)

But once these "brave" birds set the tone, a blue jay began to enjoy his/her meals here as well, which you can see in the following images.

But even though all the other birds enjoyed noshing here in the aftermath of Hurricane  Sandy, there is still no sign of Cam! However, I do have two newcomers to this garden pictured below.

A Tree Swallow? 

A Sparrow? 

I am thrilled and grateful to have the two newcomers – especially since so many surrounding areas have been devastated by Hurricane Sandy. And now, as we prepare for a nor'easter to hit, I hope all my feathered friends are safe, and that the plans they were making as they chirped in my "bird-house-style feeder" (as mentioned in the beginning of this post), see them through yet another crisis in my garden! So I'll leave you with a few more photo-ops of some of them making plans,

On the Look-Out For The Approaching Storm!

A Little Nervous About Nor-Easter Prep

Demonstrating Exit Techniques for Approaching Storm!

and with this, I hope the next time I post a full entry here on Blogger (which should be Friday the ninth) that I will be reporting that all my visiting birds are safe, and perhaps Cam will have returned too!

Meanwhile, please know that my heart goes out (as I'm sure do the hearts of my visiting birds) to those who are suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and my good wishes go to everyone in range of the nor'easter!