We've had some special guests at the bird feeder lately. Cedar waxwings and bluejays. When we first came to the Ottawa area over 40 years ago we would commonly see bluejays. Now it seems the only time we see and hear them is rarely, but generally in the spring and the fall and only in the ravine, where we see hawks spiralling above on the wind far more often than we do the jays. But a pair recently visited our birdfeeder and they were more than welcome to help themselves.

My husband didn't see the cedar waxwing and thought perhaps I'd seen one of the cardinals, but of course there's a huge size disparity between the waxwings and the cardinals and certainly of colour as well. So, though he's the birdwatcher, from such long association with him, I also recognize many birds, and was able to assure him that I did indeed see what I claimed to have seen.

The birdfeeder has been busy hosting chickadees, nuthatches, a variety of sparrows including song sparrows, and slate-backed juncos. The goldfinches which were regular visitors have long since departed on their winter migratory route. The cardinals remain faithful feeders. And doves returned after quite a long hiatus. We sometimes see hairy or downy woodpeckers at the fat feeder we've got strung up near the seeds-and-nuts dispenser. It's amazing how swiftly the feeder, which has a decent capacity, is reduced with all the visitors.

We've got black and grey and red squirrels as regular visitors, along with tiny chipmunks. Although two baby red squirrels could compete with the chipmunks for adorable size and presence. And calm in our presence, as well.

One of the grey squirrels has succeeded in devising an opportunistic way of foiling the inverted funnel installed on the pole the birdfeeder sits upon. He extends his body, upside-down, with hind feet under the baffle, then swings around to grab the feeder itself with his front paws, in a swift acrobatic motion that succeeds in vaulting him onto the feeder. The solution is to slide the baffle down a few inches so he won't succeed in that manoeuvre, and my husband will get around to it.

Meanwhile, plenty of seeds and nuts fall to the area underneath the feeder, so the ground-feeding birds and the small, furry wildlife alike can feast to their hearts' content. My husband has decided that for this coming winter he won't put out the elaborate feeding station he's presented in the past several winters Instead, a rudimentary tray will do, to be filled with the same kind of offerings that brought raccoons, squirrels and birds alike to scrub about selecting what suited their appetite, with the birdfeeder left to the sole preserve of birds.