The smorgasbord of assorted seeds and nuts is what continues to attract our neighbourhood wildlife to our home. It is only the black-capped chickadees that flitter around the bird feeder. And red squirrels and slate-black juncos that gather under it, to take possession of whatever drops from above.

But the main attraction is the broad top rail on the porch where my husband scatters all those seeds and nuts in abundance. That is where, every morning when we come downstairs and glance out the front door, we can see the mono-and sometimes mixed-gathering of birds and beasties that come to feast for their morning repast.

It can be a gathering of three black, one red, another grey squirrel, or a combination of a black, one wary red squirrel and close by them, though keeping a respectful distance, chickadees gathering what they may. Only the occasional visit of a crow clears everyone else out.

Throughout the day there is a regular stream of visitors and each acts somewhat differently, even within the species groups. We know, because we watch them intensely often, fascinated by their presence, grateful that we have the opportunity both to witness their being and to be able to help them survive the food scarcity of winter.

Now that the raccoons are returning nightly to our compost bins we're also a bit concerned to ensure that we place within them from time to time edible treats that we might otherwise have held onto, depositing them instead into the bins for the following night-ritual of retrieval by the hungry little animals.

We're seeing now more red squirrels, more cardinals, in the sense that the female of what is most certainly a mated pair coming around, she seeming more alert to potential danger than the male, though that may change too as it did with the male as he gained confidence in the relative safety of his presence on our porch and the security of an assured food depot.

When dusk falls the female cardinal is most likely to appear, and this also when the rabbit comes along to hunker down on the floor of the porch and nibble on the fallen seeds and nuts. A never-ending progression of visitors keeps us entertained and appreciative of what we share with the nature that surrounds us.