My Urban Backyard

I live in the city and have a tiny backyard. This year I decided to make a sanctuary for myself, complete with birdfeeders, grass, a small flower garden and maybe even some vegetables.


It’s early in the growing season so all I have done so far is put up birdfeeders and throw down some grass seed. For several days, my feeders got no action, so I moved them closer to the pine tree toward the back by the wire fence belonging to my neighbor behind me. A few birds appeared. I got out my binoculars and my bird book and happily watched them. Everyday my feeders became a little more popular. The squirrels came next and were happily feeding directly below the feeders, until the next day they found their way up the poles to the actual food and the spot below the feeders was claimed by a woodchuck. It was a happy scene.

My cats were soon spotted lying in the sun on the deck watching the action. The birds paid no mind to my twenty pound gray cat. It doesn’t take much more than a pea sized brain to recognize that my mountain of a cat could not catch them without the help of a crane. They happily continued to eat. My other cat tried to catch one of them but ran into the fence instead. With no notable brain, his head rattled and shaking his head, he quickly gave up. But the dog on the other side of the fence was not amused by my desire to host the neighborhood birds and critters and he constantly barked at them whenever he was out. My cats preen happily just out of his reach occasionally hissing in his direction, the birds continued to eat, the woodchuck didn’t care, and the squirrels have now perfected their high wire act. Somehow they can still eat, without choking, while hanging upside down by one foot and using both front paws to shovel food in their cheeks just in case they can’t find food next winter. I now need to fill the feeders every other day. Amongst the chaos of barking, I hear the lovely melody of chirping from the sparrows, chickadees, and robins. I find myself drawn to the window frequently to watch them and glory in the cardinal who stops by occasionally for lunch.

My initial happiness with urban wildlife is not waning despite the bird food bill, the constant yapping of the poor dog tortured by animals just out of his reach, and the piggish pack of squirrels. The birds are very happy and are enjoying the newly thrown grass seed as well as the food in the bird feeders. My tiny backyard may not be much, but as of this upcoming weekend it will have a fence blocking the dog, newly laid sod and a lounge chair just for me to bask in the sunlight and watch my new bird friends.