I really liked this whole set. It makes me wonder what goes on in their fluffy little brains!

I hope they’re having some kind of happy thoughts about winning fights, scaring off other birds and animals, raising happy babies, and catching the tastiest little creatures ever. I don’t want it to just be a blank space or keeping one ear out for lunch and another to make sure nobody else makes the owl the lunch!

On my New Year’s Eve, I saw one of my backyard bird friends get eaten. I couldn’t find any flight feather to confirm it was one of my bluejays, but it really looked like one. All I found was a bunch of belly down. It got pinned down by a Cooper’s Hawk and was taken away after a few moments. I have dozens of hours of interactions with the jays, and I think of us as friendly neighbors. I felt bad, but I do care about the hawk too, and that is what hawks are meant to do. I made sure not to cause a distraction, as I felt it was already too late for the caught bird, and if it was its time to be the food, I didn’t want him to get left behind if the hawk panicked from my presence and the bird to just get left behind.

I’ve seen the jays fight off the hawk before, and I’ve also seen the hawk take other random finches and sparrows before, and I was glad to see it was still alive and doing well. They jays are just the ones I’ve bonded with most. It’s similar to how some people befriend the crows. I started feeding them peanuts and spending time with them, and they got to know me, and they call their bird friends when they see me get home and such. They will call to me sometimes if I sleep in too late.

But I have to remember they are just my neighbors, and not my pets. They have their own lives to live and duties to fulfill. I try not to humanize them too much, but I do really hope they enjoy the lives they get to live. Watching animals reminds me how hard things can be, but it does show me they do have unique personalities, even if they aren’t like ours exactly. I hope they get to enjoy some form of love and hope and satisfaction. They deserve it as much as anything does.