Birds of a Feather

So, I am certain that you are all most-assuredly wondering “Where are Mrs. AR’s posts detailing her entanglements with the local avian persuasion this spring?”

Well, until last week, I was doing ok, thank you very much.

In fact, better than ok. I had experienced nary a run-in with the birds at all.

You may recall my “series” from last year, detailing the mama bird on the back porch who was tenacious in building her nest in the cherry spot on our back porch.

If you want to refresh your memory (though I would be completely SHOCKED if you can’t recall such riveting tales!) please click on “Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds” at the bottom of this post and it should take you to all of them. (If it doesn’t please let me know…technology is great but only when it works.)

But if you don’t want to read them (which is totally understandable) I will at least tell you this: since we moved in our house 9 years ago, we have had a bird build a nest on our back porch every.single.spring.

Last year, the poor mama was so eager to lay her eggs that she neglected to make sure the nest was under her.

It was not. Needless to say (but I’m saying it anyway), the babies did not survive past yolkdom.

That is to say, we have had birds attempt to build on the back porch every year…until this year. 

Apparently word got out that the place was increasingly hostile and any nest (finished or in process) would be removed immediately upon discovery (or after a picture was taken...depending on who made the discovery); no one even attempted a nest this year.

Pay no attention to the grossiness from years past..bird poo is not always as easy to remove as one might think

And we didn’t have any run-ins with a nest on the front porch either…only because I didn’t put my usual bucket of flowers on display…thus removing another cherry spot from the nest-locale line-up.

But that didn’t mean we didn’t have nests this spring. We actually have a few, but as yet there do not appear to be any babies...

And with that, we shall embark on the "Tour of Nests" you've all been eagerly anticipating...or dreading. There's kind of a fine line.

Frankly I’m not sure what kind of nest this is but I am thinking either robin or cardinal. I haven’t seen anything in it but I am fairly certain it is not leftover from last year.

And I am too short to see inside, so I don't actually know if there are babies or eggs or anything inside.

Don’t judge.

________

This one was actually leftover from last year. It belonged to a robin last year. But this year I have seen both a Mourning Dove and a Robin (and yes, I am no avian specialist but I can distinguish between the two, thank you very much). But so far no babies…not exactly sure what’s going on there. No judging but it is too high for me to see inside.

________

This one is more my height…and empty. But VERY pretty. As in “I might want to keep it because it’s so pretty” pretty. Perhaps it was also a better height for a neighborhood cat or raccoon? Which is probably/possibly why it is empty. (Look at my deductive reasoning skills hard at work.)

________

And this one I believe is a dove’s b/c it is a little messy. I don’t respect the dove so much (yeah, you read that right…I do not respect the mourning dove; I find their work ethic to be somewhat lacking), although at least this one tried to build in an actual bush, instead of the sorry attempts at nests which we have found over the past few years; putting about 5 sticks on our window ledges and laying the eggs on them all willy-nilly. It would be “ok” except the ledges are sloped to prevent water from standing on them. Ergo…the eggs roll off and the birds appear mystified.

Ok, I have yet to see a mystified mourning dove, but it is kind of funny to consider, right?

Just say “yes” and we can move on.

________

This brings me to the nest experience of last week.

But I must back up a bit. A few days prior to our latest visit, my mother told me (and the boys, though I am certain it was more directed toward me…I am her favorite, I’m fairly certain) that there was a dove’s nest in the blue spruce next to their garage and that we (I) should check it out the next time we are(I am) over.

So I went by last week to pick up my kids (I also went by to drop them off but I forgot about the nest during drop-off so I was alone when I remembered…I say this because you are certainly pondering the whereabouts of the PBA during this event. Are you with me?)

Now this was (and frankly still is) a fairly dense tree (no, I am not calling it “stupid” but thanks for asking), but there was a hole, right at my eye level. As I looked at the tree, I thought to myself, “Well I don’t know where the nest is, but I’ll peek in there and look.”

No sooner had I “peeked” in than I had an angry mama dove flying right at me…making whatever noise it is a dove makes when it is scared, angry or both.

Of course I screamed. And jumped back about 5 feet.

Maybe not 5 feet…probably more like 2. I have this whole “depth perception issue,” due to my lazy eye so who really knows. And as I said, the PBA weren't with me so we have no one who can give any sort of accurate estimation of how far I jumped.

I'm sorry that I can't be 100% accurate in my reporting, as I oh-so-often am.

And once my heart stopped trying to find its way out of my chest, I approached the hole again.

I knew the mama had flown "away", but she was still close by…making her noises.

Of course, I (again with my vast deductive-reasoning skills...they are getting a workout in this post) figured out why she was upon me immediately (I don’t care what you say…I’m a quick-study…).

The nest was right inside the hole.

Can you see it? There's just one baby in there...not a tiny baby either. I'm certain you can see how I missed it initially...

And thusly I ended my tenuous truce with the winged creatures of our area.  

But since you stuck it out and read this whole thing…or at the very least skipped to the end, I should give you a little something funny…you know, since this wasn’t very funny at all.

Also, because I don’t have a good way to end this.

So enjoy this Pixar Short Film instead…and please forgive that it’s not Youtube…I could not find the original on Youtube so you’ll have to settle for vimeo instead…

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Almost Wordless Wednesday (Caution: There is Some Hooting)

Photo credit goes to my dad...there's no way my camera phone would have ever gotten this shot!

Just for a visual, this is a juvenile Great Horned Owl; it was shot (you know what I mean...) a few years ago in the woods behind our house.

Every fall we hear a pair of owls calling to each other and I am happy to report that they have been making their presence known each morning for the past couple weeks.

In actuality, they sound like this to us (audio only...sorry!)

To them, I think the calls sound like this:

And yes, it's the Tom Jones version...who better, right?

There's a visual for you, right?


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Wordless Wednesday: Because I Know You're DYING to Know

May 9

May 10

May 11

May 12

May 13 (photo credit to Mr. Always Random...you could probably tell by the different angle; he is SLIGHTLY taller than me...by about 11 inches)

May 14...fledged!

Wordless Wednesday: Progress

May 5 (Hatching day!)

May 6

May 7

May 8

Editor's Note: It has not gone unnoticed by yours truly that one egg from the original clutch of 3 is gone (no evidence even on the porch...yuck-o!), and that this other egg probably should have hatched by now. However, I'm going with the assumption that if the mama hasn't disposed of it, there may be hope for it yet. As an aside, I kind of like having it there for size reference on the hatched baby.

Monday Listicles: Ten Things I Love That Are Free

So...I'm not sure how many have even missed me over at Stasha's, but I have missed doing the lists. It's not for any particular reason that I have declined, other than I have had something of a bird infestation at my house and this previously-random blog apparently now has a theme: For the Birds.

OK, not really, but that was my main source of material.

Even I, in my often-blatent disregard for following the list as described, couldn't figure out a way to fit it into the themes.

However, if you'd like to get caught up on all the fun/madness (potato/potatoh) around here, you can sort by the labels; I have one entitled "Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds" and it will allow you to catch up nicely.

There are too many at this point for me to link up each one.

OK, I actually could but I am lazy.  And tired.

But please give me a break...it's Monday morning. And we're just coming off a week-end of 5 lacrosse games and 3 soccer games. This being between the 2 members of the PBA. (I'm sure you were confused and thought that it was I, myself, who played...I appreciate you thinking that I could. That's so nice of you!)

Oh, and I might add that all those games were in about a 26 hour time period.

And not exactly local.

I'm as tired as if I had played all those games.

That's a lie...I would probably still be in bed because I couldn't move if I played all those games.

Here's a picture (courtesy of my fabulous photographer father) of each boy in action on Saturday (Sunday was rainy and didn't make for good photo opportunities); I'm sure you wanted to see them. No need to be shy...just ask next time.

This is the 11yo..he had 3 soccer games and 2 lacrosse games...he's even claiming to be a little sore today.

This is the 10yo...he had 3 lacrosse games...he's not claiming to be sore. Only slightly bruised.

That being said, my list today may have something to do with the nature out my back (and front) doors.

So without further delay, here's my list of Ten Things I Love That Are Free:

1. Owls hooting in the middle of the night
2. Robins building their nests in various and sundry places around my house
3. Newly-hatched baby cardinals cheeping in the nest on my front porch
4. Bunnies taunting Indy because they seem to know he's chained up and can't reach them
5. Squirrels in the bird feeders, covering their heads with their tails to keep off the buckets of rain
6. Five different kinds of woodpeckers eating suet at the feeders (OK, this one does cost a little bit for the seed, as does #5; please don't sue me)
7. Chipmunks scampering scross the deck
8. Hummingbirds (haven't seen them yet this year but should be soon!) flitting from flower to flower in my perennial garden
9. Deer living in the wooded area behind us (but RARELY make an appearance)
10. Racoons waddling out of the drain pipe at dusk, following their worn path into the trees

Hope you get to see some wildlife of your own...have a fabulous day! 

Not for the Faint of Heart

What you are about to see may shock and horrify you.

As my nature-loving 11yo put it "I hate nature sometimes..."

Recently I discovered yet another nest...yes, sorry, but I feel I must report it.

It's way up there. Not even with our tallest ladder could I see in side.

Not even with our neighbor's tallest ladder.

And this is mostly because I don't like to be on tall ladders.

Roller coasters are fine with me, but not ladders.

Some might call it irrational and they would be right. I am ok with that.

Anyway...here is the nest (I apologize for the grainy quality...it's a photo taken with my phone and it doesn't zoom in so nicely.)

Yes this nest is sloppy too, but I assure you that's not the atrocity.

This is the atrocity:

No, not the large splatter of bird excrement either.

Poor babies.

At first I thought that she'd somehow missed her nest...ala the nest we moved from the back porch.

But upon further inspection by Mr. Always Random and the 11yo, it was apparent that the embryos were partially formed. You could see actual parts of those little baby birds.

I know "it's nature's way" (channeling Steve Irwin there) but it doesn't make it any less gruesome.

And just to add to the horror in your mind, I was thinking this morning that it will need to be cleaned up. And soon...before the heat really makes them putrid.

However, after my 11yo took the dog out this morning, he informed me that "someone" came along last night and apparently took care of that for us.

Y.U.C.K. Nature cleans up its own messes...but it is still slightly distasteful to me.

On that note...have a fabulous day!

Wordless Wednesday: Bird on a Nest

Lest you be concerned: no, we have not permanently scared away the mama cardinal from the front porch.

That "stick" you see jutting out from the purple flowers is actually her tail feathers. She's a skittish one and flies away if I get remotely close to her. 

After several days of thwarted attempts, I decided to pull the rip cord and give you what I got; believe me when I tell you that this is the best picture I could get of her.

I know you were concerned. 

Now you can rest easy.

You're welcome.

Nest Relocation Program

So...I know you were all sitting at home strumming over the birds we relocated from the light fixture on our back porch.

OK, did anyone remember that we relocated the birds?

Because we did. I know that you probably remember EVERYTHING I say, so if you read the rapidly-growing list of blog posts about the birds which have decided to nest on my house, you probably read about Mr. Always Random moving the nest.

And if you somehow missed this IMPORTANT information, consider yourself caught up.

Mr. Always Random moved the nest from the back porch to a nearby curve in the gutter...just like the sloppy nest from a few days ago.

Only this one is just off the back porch...so not too far from it's original location, but just far enough to be confusing.

I was feeling extremely guilty because a couple days after we moved it, a broken robin's egg was lying on the ground under the back porch light. Clearly she knew the nest had been there and waited until the very last minute to get to the nest to lay it.

Either that or she simply couldn't find it.

And I can't say with 100% positivity (yes, I'm sure that's a word) that it's the same bird, but a robin is nesting in the nest we moved.

I assume it is the same robin...but it's not like I banded her.

And she does seem a little bit skittish...wouldn't you be if you know exactly where you left your house and when you returned it was no longer there?

It would rattle me, I have to admit.

And I can't get a picture of her in the nest because of it.

So you'll just have to imagine that she's there.

And no, Christine, I won't be able to get pictures inside that nest either. But I imagine it looks something like this:

Let's use our imaginations, shall we?

One other item of business before I wrap up this riveting installment of "Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds'"...clearly one of our feathered friends has not lived to tell the tale.

These little feathers are spread out across an approximate area of 3 feet by 3 feet. I can only presume it's the fat tabby (who is either well-fed from a home, a good mouser/hunter, or a combination there of) who has taken to sleeping under our deck at night. That goes over well with Indy, as you can well imagine.

Look at that...using our imaginations again.

Mr. Rogers would be so proud. (And if you don't know who Mr. Fred Rogers is...shame on you! Google it please!)

Sorry to end on a bit of a downer...but it's off to lacrosse practice and a soccer game for me! Have a fabulous evening!

Nesting

Because I know you were sitting there at home, wondering if the mama bird outside my laundry room even cleaned up her act...the answer is "Yes, sort of."

She did build more of a structure to the madness, but much to my chagrin she left a lot of the schleppy-looking stuff trailing down.

I am half-tempted to go out there with some scissors and take care of it.

Don't judge.

And because I am not tall (thank you Christine for enlightening me), I can't see inside this nest.

And I'm too lazy to get out a ladder.

Plus, the ladder lives next to my car and I would more than likely ding or scratch the car in my attempts to wrestle the ladder out of the garage.

Or move the car to keep it from being dented or scratched.

I don't think Mr. Always Random would be happy with me if I did that.

And let's be honest...that sounds like a LOT of work and I don't have time for that.

Better to sit here at my computer and write about it.

It's warmer in here too.

If I'm anything, I am astute: considering the mama has been on this nest for a couple days now, I think it's safe to assume she's got some bright blue eggs warming under her tush.

Or belly, as it actually is. Did you know that mama robins have what is called a "brood patch" on their bellies? It is a place where her bare skin rests on the eggs to ensure that they are kept at a consistent temperature, as close as it can get to the normal body temperature of a robin...which is 104 degrees Fahrenheit, BTW.

If you're interested (and I know you are...you don't have to admit it) you can, of course, Google it for yourself...or just click here for a brief synopsis.

You're welcome.

Also, she's probably got 3-5 eggs in there, and it will take them about two weeks until each one hatches...more than likely on sequential days because they're laid on sequential days (not all at once).

And then it will be two additional weeks until they are ready to fledge.

And unlike the cardinal, a mama robin will reuse the same nest, for two to three clutches in a year.

But since this is not on my front door, I am ok with that.

No, this is not a great picture, but remember: I'm taking it through a window.  Add to that the fact that it "MAY" be in need of a good cleaning...

Wordless Wednesday: What Is This...Amateur Hour?

Undoubtedly you are tired of the posts about the bird nests in and around my house, but this one could not go by without notice.

I thought the bird on the back porch struggled to get her nest together, but this one is truly a sight to behold. It's got the messiness of a Mourning Dove's nest, but the girth of a Robin's nest.

It is, in fact, that of a Robin. I've seen her in action.

She's GOT to be new. Her mate must love her for her other marketable attributes, because it surely isn't her housekeeping skills.

And yes, I am, once again, mocking the Animal Kingdom.

Waving the White Flag

Well I'm sure that you're tired of hearing about the miscellaneous wildlife around my house.

And if that's the case for you, please feel free to pull the rip cord right now.

I won’t be offended because frankly I won’t even know.

But if you're just now tuning in...welcome.

You can catch up on the saga here, here, here, and here. (And yes, I went with the serial comma in that sentence…thank you for noticing.)

Anyway, if you’re still with me (or even if you’re not), I have an update on the front door skirmish.

Ok not exactly a skirmish any longer as I have waved the white flag.

Much to my chagrin.

And then again…not really too much to my chagrin.

But alas I have waved it.  And I’m here to let you in on that fact.

My dad even had some sort of deterrent spray for me to try…but I kept forgetting to stop by their house to pick it up. Clearly I was sabotaging my own claims of not wanting a bird's nest on my front door.

Don't judge.

I must confess that once we moved the robins from the back porch and it was clear that no one was going to take up residence in my front garden Redbud, I knew my only chance to watch the miracle of birth live and up close was going to be via my front door.

However, this decision did come with a bit of a surprise.

The birds who “wintered” there, and the ones who’ve nested in the past little sparrows, as I recall. But this nest appeared much larger than those of the past, so I suspected that a larger bird had made its home on our front door.

One morning when I was checking on the nest, a mama cardinal flew out, and came right towards me. I only screamed like a little girl for a half second.

“Oh, well that explains the size of the nest!”

So then this morning, my 10 yo came to me, all shades of frantic: “Mom! I can hear the babies!”

“No you can't; there aren't any eggs.” I didn’t know that there weren’t any eggs, but I was pretty sure that even if there were, they didn’t incubate in less than a week.

“Well I hear them!”

“No you don't ...it's probably just the mama.”

“No! Come here!”

So I followed him to the front door and what I heard can only be described as squawking.

And flailing.

And wings whacking the door.

I had my suspicions about what I thought MIGHT be going on but realized quickly that the mama would be pregnant before building her nest, right? The nesting comes AFTER the pregnancy, right?

But of course I had to check things out for myself because frankly it sounded like the bird was being mauled.

In lieu of opening the door and risking either a) bird flying in the house or b) me being attacked, I went out through the garage door and came around to the front...in time to see the mama and daddy cardinals fly away.

So then I was truly confused about what I interrupted…but I tried not to dwell on it, because that would have been weird.

And since we were actually running late this morning when I disturbed them, I decided to check when we got home.

As my good friend at In the Coop...who is apparently also an Amazon...so astutely pointed out, I'm not exactly tall enough to see inside these nests without some assistance. 

But unlike the back porch nest, I don't bother schlepping out a stepstool, or making do with something that’s convenient...I simply use my phone to take a picture of what's going on inside the nest. I am tall enough to do that ...ok, if I stand on my tippy toes, then I am tall enough.

Don't judge. I know you’re all jealous. You all wish you were little like me.

This particular shot only took me one try. Practice makes perfect.

So going back to my earlier comment…clearly I had only interrupted labor and delivery. Which if it's anything like a human delivery, it's kind of painful. And when I say this, I please know that I did not miss biology class that day and I do understand that humans give birth to "live young " and do not hatch babies from eggs ...but that might be easier right? You wouldn't have to make sure the baby was head down and no wayward limbs getting caught on the exit ...maybe I should talk to God about that ...I’m full of great ideas for Him and I KNOW He L.O.V.E.S. it when I tell Him my ideas.

Anyway…I’m assuming that's what the ruckus was about. And the other bird was there playing the role of the doula.

Stranger things have happened ...I'm not sure what they would be, but they probably have.

Like maybe one time I told a story succinctly, without a bunch of random tangents or bunny trail attachments...

Ok maybe that never happened either.

NOTE: Just so you know, cardinals can have three or four clutches of eggs in a season. I just about had a heart attack when I read that, as I did not want to deal with these birds all summer; one clutch is fine, but three or four would begin to be a little tedious. Imagine my delight to discover that when one clutch is being cared for by the daddy, the mama is incubating the next clutch in a new nest; rarely do cardinals reuse a nest. Just thought you’d like to know.

Wordless Wednesday: War Update

The tide of the war has turned against me...

For the Birds

Dear Mama Bird On My Front Porch,

You may or may not be the same one with whom I had an encounter a few years ago. Regardless, I cannot allow you to build a nest in the bucket on my front door.

Yes, I know it seems like a double-standard, since I let that other mama bird build her nest on the back porch light. However I must let you in on something…she built that whole nest in a day while I was gone…there was no stopping her.

I will have you know that following my post showing her nest, I received a rather panicked message from the sister-in-law of a friend. Her family had let birds repeatedly nest on a porch light and over time the bird’s excrement caused severe damage to the wires. Because the damage was inside the light and the wall, they couldn’t see it and continued to use the light. One day, the damaged light sparked, causing a fire which burned their entire house to the ground…very little was saved, with the exception of their lives.

I never knew that bird poop could cause such fear, and yet it has. Because of that, we clearly can no longer enjoy the backporch birds either.

Mr. Always Random took down the nest this afternoon, before any eggs were laid.

So now no one is special…except for maybe the birds who are nesting in the curves of the raingutters…I have no problem with them…so far.

All this rambling to say, I apologize for destroying the pile of sticks you had amassed and so carefully placed in my flower bucket today. But trust me…your mark is still there in the poop you deposited on my fake flowers.

And while we’re addressing the issue of poop, were you the one who apparently roosted in the bucket all winter, flying out at my son each week as he came home in the evenings from CYT class? “Mom, that same bird scared me again when I started to open the door!”

It was either you or one of your little friends who spent many a night there, as your calling card filled the bottom half of the bucket over the course of the winter.

I’m sorry it took me so long to open it…but I didn’t discover it was even there until I removed my winter arrangement and realized, much to my surprise, that the bucket was considerably heavier than it had been when I hung it up a few months prior.

After I gagged and heaved and threw up a little bit in my mouth, I collected myself, put on gloves to remove the flowers, and walked out to the woods to dump out your gift.

And then scrubbed and disinfected the bucket. The old me might have just thrown the whole thing away and started over…but not this gal. She’s too frugal for such frivolity.

Who am I kidding…even the old me would have saved the bucket.

I had been wondering how, exactly, to tell you that I disposed of a gift which you clearly worked long and hard on it…for several months apparently. And though it was a gift you made yourself, I do not want you to recreate it.

In fact, please pass the word to all your little birdie friends: no nests allowed on the front door. Any nests or attempts at nests will be promptly removed from the premises.

OK, maybe not the premises, but at least from the bucket.

Also, no loitering in the bucket allowed either.  This takes us back to the above issue which I would prefer not to revisit.

Finally, you may be asking yourself, “Why does she keep the bucket there when she knows we’ll just keep returning?”

Actually if the term “bird-brain” has any merit, you probably aren’t asking that at all…and may even not be able to read this letter which I am taking such care to pen.

Well, to answer this question, I submit for your perusal two photos:  one of the door with the bucket 

and one of the door without the bucket.

Now I ask you…which one is truly more welcoming? The one with the bucket, right? They both say, “Welcome” but the one without the bucket isn’t really bringing it, is it?

You probably can’t even read the “Welcome”.

Granted, the whimsical doormat is always welcoming for someone with a proclivity for wit, but somehow I doubt that’s the draw for you. And frankly I don’t think it’s strong enough to carry the entire “welcome expectation” of the front door.

And thus I feel it is important enough to the overall appearance of the door to continue to fight with you and your little army of feathered friends. Consider war declared!

Be sure to know this: I will win either way.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Always Random

Touché Mama Bird

Well, apparently the animal kingdom has access to the blog and I lit a fire under the mama bird’s behind.

Either that or she’s been taking classes in “nesting”.

Realistically, I can only assume the storms provided the necessary moisture for the mud to hold the construction together.

If you don’t have mud, you don’t have anything. You can quote me on that…feel free; just make sure you attribute it to me. Don’t just go around quoting it all willy-nilly without an attribution.

I came home Thursday afternoon to this on my back porch.

Touché Mama Bird...you got the job done. 

But, and this is just my humble opinion: it is a little sloppy. 

Yes, I’m judging the bird.

Proof that even in the animal kingdom some mamas are better housekeepers than others.

Please understand that I say this while the dust lies an inch thick throughout my house and there’s at least two loads of laundry that need to be run.  While I sit at my computer and write a blog.

Priorities.

I don’t judge the human mamas on housecleaning…just the animal ones. No one else need worry.

Rookie Housekeeper

About 4 or 5 years ago, I had my first run-in with a bird. It was a little starling. Apparently the bucket of artificial flowers on my front door was a nice, sheltered spot and she made her nest right there.

We knew it was there and chose to do nothing about it.

Until, one day, I opened the front door and she was apparently sitting on the nest, as mama birds tend to do. However, the movement of the door startled her (understandably) and she flew out of the nest.

Unfortunately I had the door as wide open as it could possibly be. And she flew in the house.

She flew right through the house, in fact, heading for the trees out back.

Unfortunately for her, there were windows between her and those trees. Apparently her eyesight was failing…I don’t judge. It happens to the best of us.

So, because she didn’t see the window, she smacked right into it and knocked herself out.

I though, for sure, that she was dead.

So I went out to the garage to get some gloves.

Actually…I’m getting ahead of myself. After I ran around screaming for a few second (let’s be honest…it scared me too), I called Mr. Always Random (because he was at work, 45 minutes away…he was going to be TONS of help).

Actually, he didn’t have that adrenaline rush going so he was able to think a little clearer than I. “Get some work gloves from the garage and carry it out back to the trees.”

So that’s what I did…went out to the garage to get some work gloves.

However, when I returned, the bird was not where I had left her. She was hopping around my living room.

And, oh yes, she’d pooped on the carpet too.

Just kept getting better.

So by then, I had some sense and knew exactly what to do.

Not really…I called Mr. Always Random again. And did what he said. I’m really not this little perfect “yes sir” wife as this story seems to make me out to be. If you know me, you already know that’s not the case.

I closed all the bedroom doors, opened up all the doors to the house (we didn’t have Indy yet…good thing b/c he’s a runner and would have bolted. But I would not have cared at that point. I had bigger fish to fry).

By this point, the bird was in the kitchen and using a broom, I was able to coax her out the back door.

That’s a funny sentence…I left it in because it makes me laugh. I removed a comma, so now it implies that the bird was using a broom.

Phew. Grammar humor…don’t you love it?

Anyway…I was using a broom to coax her out the back door.

And it worked. And I only had to clean up a couple spots of bird poop. For a moment, with all her scared flying, I had visions of it being EVERYWHERE.

But alas, I was spared.

The bucket immediately came down off the front door, and unfortunately she did not get to see her eggs come to their intended end.

I felt badly about that. But not bad enough to risk another potential run-in with the mama.

All this rambling brings me to the point I intended to make…which is that birds, for some reason, like our home and seem to enjoy building nests in its various nooks and crannies.  Yes, in addition to the light on the back porch, the curves of the downspouts also, apparently, make great nesting sites for the local robins and their kin. Lucky us.

For the past two summers (this being the third one), we’ve enjoyed mama robins building nests on top of the light next to our back door.

Sure. It makes a mess, as I’m certain you can imagine. Between the bird droppings and the stray pieces of grass (or fishing line…who knows where she found that) trailing down the side…it is a messy process.

But how cute it this?

And yes, we try not to go in and out of that door too often, especially while she’s sitting on her eggs.

In fact, the first year, we tried to stop the madness before it began. Numerous times in the evenings, over the course of a couple weeks, we took down whatever she had built during the day.

But she was a determined little mama and in the end, her tenacity won out.

OK, we actually just got tired of fighting with her. She’s like any woman: she knew what she wanted and was determined to have it. That was/is apparently a great spot for a nest and she was bound to win it.

And she did.

In fact, she liked it so much, that she tried to lay 2 clutches of eggs…which we discovered the hard way… is possible if the stars align correctly.

OK, it clearly has nothing to do with the stars aligning, but sometimes they just lay 2 or even 3 clutches over the course of the summer.

Who knew? Well, we didn’t until…

After she’d had her first clutch and they all fledged, the nest sat empty for a while.

Vacated.

Empty.

No one home.

So we thought.

So with a little bit of sadness (can you tell what a wreck I’ll be when my own chicks fly the coop? I was a little misty when those baby robins whom I’d only seen grow for a few weeks flew away.), I had Mr. Always Random take down the nest. He put it in a nearby tree, mostly so we could still see it (because frankly it was a pretty nice nest…she’d done a lovely job on it and I hated to throw it out.

Again, you may see me on “Hoarders” some day. Though for the record, last week, I was in the mood to give away some stuff…10 boxes I took to Goodwill. And NOT shoebox size, thank you very much. These were good sized moving boxes.

So anyway, a few days later, on the ground underneath the light, there was a broken (obviously) robin’s egg.

Hmmm…that’s curious. We cleaned it up and went in our way.

The next day, there was another one.

Hmmm…curious again. Better Google that.

As I think about it, perhaps we crossed the homeschooling line of no return two years ago…

And that’s when we learned about the multiple clutches.

So quickly, my husband put his gloves on and put the nest back up on top of the light. But it was too late. She wasn’t fooled.

She knew it had been touched.

Though I can imagine her thinking, “Oh, I’ve got to lay this egg and I KNOW I left that nest right here. Even though I can’t see it, I’m certain that’s where it is.”

Splat.

Poor mama. I get a little misty over that too. Don’t judge.

Last year, the mama made her nest but never laid any eggs. In fact, all the nests around our house were never the proud homes to any babies. 

And yes, we Googled why those nests were abandoned. It was more than likely due to the drought and extreme heat.

I’m certain that you wanted to know that. You. Are. Welcome.

So, we arrive at this year.

And believe me when I say this, I’m really not criticizing, because I hate to criticize the animal kingdom. Other people? No problem. Animals? Seems superfluous to do. Unless it’s Indy. I’m take no issue with criticizing him.

Anyway…I think, perhaps, something may have happened to our back-porch robin of years past.  And based on what I’m seeing, I think it’s a rookie we have with us this time.

After several days (more like a couple weeks, in fact), this is what the nest looks like on top of the light.

And this is what the ground below looks like, without us touching a thing. She's done this all on her own.

And I know I shouldn’t judge because what would my home look like if I had to build it out of mud and found objects. And only have my beak to carry things and my wing to push things into place (BTW I did look that up…shocking, I know…and yes, they do use their wings to help form the walls of the nest. Who knew?).

Probably not the easiest task, but the robin was made for it.

And I am thanking God as I type this that I was not made for such things. I enjoy a little sparkle as much as the next girl, but I don’t think I want pieces of ribbon or fishing line sticking out of my house.

Call me crazy…and you would be right.