The Joy of Rupert’s Visits

Witnessing Rupert’s regular visits to the fountain and to his personal feeding spot became one of the many delights of summer. A few times, the cardinal had the temerity to fly by and briefly stop at Rupert’s feeding cup, acting in a sneaky enough manner to enjoy Rupert’s much-loved seeds. This, however, was not an acceptable behaviour once Rupert realized that there was an intruder. As soon as he saw the cardinal near his feeding cup, he flew by in a striking fashion, two, three times, like a tiny attack plane, until the intruder flew away.

After several days, it became noticeable that Rupert was not as emphatic as before with his singing. His tunes were sporadic and shorter, and his visits a bit less regular. There was, however, not time to wonder why.

One day, to everyone’s surprise, while Rupert was back on his spot, another look-alike bird came to eat in the backyard feeder. Suddenly, Rupert flew to the main feeder, joined the other bird, and both flew away.

It took a couple of days to see them together again. The other bird seemed a bit rounder and definitely not a singer. Was the other a “she”? Was she Rupert’s mate? These questions became a focus of attention and a reason for careful observation. Soon it was clear that they were together.

Before long, their visits became less frequent and it was rare to see Rupert, alone, visiting his feeder, not singing, but still with the same caution and body posture. The truth was that his singing was no longer necessary.

Weeks later, the picture became clearer. While Rupert was at his feeding station and his companion was at the fountain having a drink, a third, even smaller Rupert look-alike appeared, jumping on the grass and finding testy treats. It was like a minuscule replica of tiny Rupert but with no tail. It was obvious that now Rupert had a family.

♋

While Rupert was still around, the later part of summer was, in a way, equally enjoyable but less eventful, still visual but not musical. Rupert, and sometimes his partner, would appear somewhere in the garden, flying from spot to spot, catching bugs in mid-air, and stopping at the feeding stations. When the sun was at its peak, the birds would spend time taking baths and splashing water all around the fountain.

By then, the garden has reached its peak. The flowers were at their most fragrant stage and attracted noisy bumblebees, the odd hummingbird during the day, and a chorus of tree frogs in the evenings. The change of season was near. Even birds, which had visited in early spring and disappeared afterwards, were now back in transit to warmer lands.

Several days went by. Slowly, leaves began to drop from some of the trees, allowing the breeze to take them away. The colours commenced changing to warmer hues, and the absence of Rupert’s visits was now palpable, despite the fact that his feeding cup was refreshed with new seeds almost every morning, to the delight now of some always opportunistic chipmunks.

It took a while to realize that Mother Nature had reaffirmed her never-ending motion. Rupert and his family had left in search of warmer and longer days.

He had been such a joy during such a strange year that the memories of his visits and the harmony of his singing were, in a way, a sign of hope. The sense of joy he left behind was the desire of having something to look forward in the springs to come.

Image from Wikipedia.org, SongSparrow-17DEC2016.jpg