My Backyard Soap Opera, and Other Crimes

It’s a soap opera out there in my backyard. It’s not so much about As the World Turns. It’s more like As the Bird Feeder Turns. For those who don’t know, except for my friends who stop by here occasionally, in my semi-retirement I have taken up bird watching and gardening to try to keep the brain cells functioning. Little did I know what amazing worlds I was entering. Too bad that, in our own little workaholic world in middle age, we forget there are other worlds out there just waiting for us to enter and learn.

And learn I have. The wild creatures sometimes have complicated lives too, just like in the soap operas, and some of the participants are Movie-Star Gorgeous. Just this week a couple of those gorgeous ones showed up, and, according to my bird book, they are not even supposed to live here. But oh my they are beautiful and I hope they stay. Still, it was a confrontation of the mating behavior that brought them to my attention. They are the northern bluebird, with baby blue topsides and a yellow-orange tummies. And two of the boys were battling it out in the back yard. They weren’t hoping for a free meal at the birdfeeder. They never came close. These two guys were going at it toenail to toenail, wings flapping, and screeching like, well, mad birds. The confrontation was over quickly, and I noted that one of the boys took his rest between rounds in the big maple tree, where he was joined by another bird of lesser color. Hum? Had he won the lady’s heart? I don’t know. The two boy birds were going at again the next day. But she didn’t show up again. I hope these three stay around, even though locked in some sort of romantic rivalry, because they are so beautiful. But they may just be migrating to the north, and their story will not continue in my Backyard Soap Opera.

On the other hand, we know that the mockingbird will stay here with us. But the mockingbird that has taken up residence in my backyard may not be a mom, but a spinster. I was hoping for a live-in mockingbird in my backyard because they are a lively bunch, and this spring one showed up. She doesn’t hang out at the birdfeeder, but likes to flit along the fence row between my neighbor’s and my yard. But, last week, she landed in the grass only about 10 feet from me on the back porch, and apparently began what I thought must be bird yoga. She did deep knee bends. She stretched one wing. They she stretched the other. Then she went back to deep knee bends. It was very entertaining for 10 minutes, but I had no idea what was going on. I consulted with another bird watcher. “Mating ritual,” I was told. No kidding! I took to the Internet. Sure enough. Videos of females doing their yoga exercises usually enticed a male mockingbird to come calling. That’s how I knew my mockingbird was a female. The problem was, no male came calling. But I know he is out there. According to the Internet, the males will sing all night, calling for that special someone. And somebody out there is singing all night at my house, almost loud enough to interrupt my sleep. So hang in there young lady. There is a special someone looking for you.

And then there’s the blue jay. Blue jays are smart, so the Internet says. And I have a blue jay couple happily making their home in my backyard soap opera. But there is one thing, apparently, a blue jay can’t stand. That would be a squirrel. We have squirrels, lots of squirrels, in my backyard. And one was recently hopping from tree to tree to tree last week. I suspect the little devil was scoping out the shed where all that wonderful horse feed is kept. Darling Daughter has had to pile rocks upon the feed container just to keep the squirrels out. So, squirrel, unable to gain entry, was on his way back out of my backyard using the squirrel highway otherwise known as the three pecan trees and one walnut tree. But the blue jay didn’t like that. And he attacked. I mean ATTACKED, like a fighter pilot. And this wasn’t just swoop and scare. This was dive and bang that dang squirrel in the head. In defense, the squirrel actually left one tree, raced across the ground, and tried to continue escape on another tree. Blue jay was not to be outwitted. He kept up the attack from tree, to tree, to tree. I imagined that poor squirrel’s head bloodied, because you could almost hear the thump of each blue jay attack. The Internet reports blue jays will even do this just for fun. But this was war. And that squirrel has not been seen since. Wonder if there is blue jay police, and if my blue jay is now wanted for murder.

Soap operas and crime shows, all in my backyard. Who needs TV?

But wait. There’s more. The scissor-tail flycatcher, Oklahoma’s bird, has shown up in the KXMX backyard. Want to see some aeronautic acrobatics? Watch the scissor-tailed flycatcher. Amazing what these birds can do just to catch a bug. They are one of the Top Guns of the bird world.

Got to go now. Too much going on in my backyard! And I don’t want to miss it.