There was no competitor in sight; no clumsy lummox house finches with their purple heads and gloomy gray bodies. And no flashy overbearing males in their overloud sport coats. But still she felt unsettled. She sensed something near at hand. Something watching her, scrutinizing her.
She looked down to the ground. It was lushly covered with a riot of green growth: leaves, stems and fronds of varied size and shape, brightly sun dappled bits accented by greens deepened by shadow and texture. Splashes of yellow and periwinkle blue mixed with bits of white blossoms scattered like snowflakes sprinkled through the garden.
Birds down there were no concern to her. Juncos and mourning doves would keep to themselves, finding treasures aplenty no higher than the tops of their heads. And there were robins about too. But they were busy looking for plump little morsels under leaf litter. No worry that such as they would compete for a breakfast perch at the feeder.
But there was something there. Something you could barely see hidden amongst a canopy of ginger leaves. it was watching her. There, she spotted it! It was a very plump toad and it seemed to be staring right at her. Its golden eyes luminous and blinking in an off-putting manner. Frankly, she found the creature to be somewhat rude. She considered for a moment leaving her place in the maple tree and foregoing a thistle seed breakfast all together. She could fly to the another garden and look at the purple cone flowers. But she knew it would be ages before there were any seeds to found there. They weren’t even blooming yet but she enjoyed watching their progress nonetheless.
2.