A young sparrow takes advantage of our home-made bird feeder hanging from a tree branch outside a window. Hidden by the blinds, I was able to take this close up without scaring it off, but the camera's clicking sound still made it a bit wary.

The feeder has had to be "fenced" to prevent pigeons from raiding it and leaving nothing for the smaller birds. In fact, it took three successive adaptations to finally succeed in foiling the clever strategies that one particular pigeon (which my husband nicknamed "the Engineer") kept coming up with to get to the food despite the protective net: for example, he would use his body weight to weigh down one side, causing the grains and seed to slide to the edge, where he could pick them out by craning his neck in through the net, all while hanging on to the rim with his feet and keeping himself airborne by fluttering his wings... I think my husband was half entertained half ticked off to be twice outsmarted by this clever fellow :D The third design, however, finally worked out. The Engineer still studied it for a while, tried various approaches, but eventually admitted defeat and went looking for more accessible food sources.

HFF everyone! May you outsmart any form of pervicacious "engineers" out there that may be barring your way to an enjoyable weekend!