An Avian Delegation

I stopped feeding the birds in the spring. For one thing, I read that birdseed can attract bears, except in the winter when they are hibernating. And some neighbors have had bears visit their decks! For another thing, the squirrels had multiplied and invited all their relatives and friends to our feeders.

This summer the birds and squirrels pretty much stopped visiting. I thought it was because I stopped putting out seed.
But a few days ago, several birds appeared on our deck. They represented three different species: a chickadee, a titmouse, and a nuthatch. They hopped around from the feeder to the deck furniture and I swear, they seemed to be looking in at me as if asking for their food!

I don't know where they were all summer; somewhere cooler or not so dry, I suppose. I couldn't resist their request so I placed birdseed in the feeders. They immediately started nibbling and their friends joined them. And today I saw a couple of squirrels helping themselves to the seed, of course.