Saturday, April 12, 2008

Chickadee's Turn

I have a ceramic birdhouse, a Christmas present from year's past, that has served well as a birdhouse even if the floor is too close to the hole. It it nearly 10" across and 4 or 5 inches high!But it looks good in the yard. Today I saw a young Chickadee investigating it.

What was interesting was the Chickadee was probably as small as any wren and looked more like a mite investigating a mansion. There was this early morning brightness of the black and white Chickadee against the brown of house. I felt it was a young(er) bird because it looked obviously smaller than other Chickadees.

I wonder what they plan on doing with all that space?
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Nest mess

I came home from work the other evening to find my back stoop covered in twigs and grass. Thinking some animal had dragged this stuff up then let the breeze redistribute it, was aggravating. So, I swept it off with my shoe and went in. Later, I came out again only to notice--like I was blind to it the first time--a nest attempt on top of the porch light.

I have enough wrens around the house they'll try to nest anywhere they can, including the porch. I got out the broom and cleaned it all up.

Next day, a Friday, I came home to find more trash on top of the light. They'd used long straw, monofilament like string, clippings, awkward sticks. I've cleaned out a few wrens' nests to know they can pack the material in very tightly. But on Saturday, I reckoned I was in and out enough to keep the discouraged and they've not been back.
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