My view from the breakfast table of a small part of our backyard provides me with a variety of happenings in nature.

Most mornings one or two rabbits who live under our deck nibble on grass.  At least one chipmunk scampers across the deck.  Various birds such as robins, wrens, woodpeckers and the occasional blue bird peck at the ground and surrounding trees for bugs and worms.  No fewer than four squirrels defy gravity with their aerial antics as they jump from branch to branch, tree to tree.

This morning a hummingbird frequented the hummingbird feeder and several squirrels ran helter-skelter across the ground.  A large hawk swooped down several times towards the squirrels.  Was he successful?  I’m not sure but the backyard became a ghost town rather quickly though the hummingbird (circled in the photo below) seemed oblivious to the drama.  I could hear other song birds in the trees.

But all the small furry creatures where nowhere to be found.