Goings on…

Here’s a woodpecker on the feeder at the cottage. I’ve only seen one feeding here twice in all the years I’ve been going there. It’s a timing thing; look away for a moment and you may miss something important.

I often wonder what I miss when I’m not looking. I’m not just talking birds here, although I’m sure that whenever I look up away from the feeders I just miss a nuthatch or a waxwing, maybe a disorientated kingfisher, perhaps even a hummingbird or a cockatoo. No, I’m talking generally. What do I miss seeing when I’m not there to see? Do empty rooms fill up when I’m not around to watch them? Do they come alive; and if they do with what?

Maybe it’s like the snails that seem to come from nowhere after the rain at night - not there one minute and then everywhere all at once. Did you ever have glimpses things out of the corner of your eye? Odd movements and shadows, things happening that you’re not quite fully aware of? ‘Goings on’ I guess you might call them. I wonder if the ‘goings on’ are hiding somewhere like snails waiting for you to leave the room so that they can come out and crawl around.

Anyway, I was lucky with the woodpecker. Not only was I there to see it feeding but for once my camera was close at hand and I managed to get a photo. For once I was on the spot and looking in the right place at the right time - looking and seeing everything that was there. Did I say everything? I’m sure that as I snapped the woodpecker I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye.