The migratory birds are appearing at the feeder outside my home office window. The bird feeder and the desk where I work each day actually belong to Scout, a fact he rarely lets me forget.

We’ve seen a number of newcomers the last few of weeks – some more welcome than others but all are hungry from their travels so I try to keep the seed flowing.

We also have two squirrels popping in most days. A lot of people don’t like them but I don’t mind having them around. One is quite young and was timid the first day. Now he noses right in there amongst the birds, occasionally getting chased off by a Mourning Dove or Brown Headed Cow Bird.

I feed them and then stand at the window for a few pictures before work each morning. All was right with the world when I took this photo. Then everything got quiet and every living creature scattered from view.

And then I saw it – a large shadow on the ground. I imagine it was some kind of hawk looking for his breakfast as well.

I can’t imagine being such a tiny creature in this big world. The predators would be endless – from the hawks in the sky to humans with their cars and guns and all manner of threats in between.

While I hate to deny the hawk his meal, I was glad to see my little friends all survived that day.