One of the little problems we had to deal with when we moved back to the farmhouse was a hole in the siding. Perhaps a piece had fallen off or been forgotten in construction but up high, under the roof overhang was a 4 inch by 4 inch hole. Of course opportunistic birds had discovered this lovely hideaway and one pair had built their nest in there. Great. We couldn't fix the hole until the baby birds had fledged. Oh well. No big deal.
Later, though, we realized that the hole had actually given the birds access to our attic which is where they built the nest. The attic is non-fuctional for us - it is layered with blown-in insulation so we can't go in there. But sitting in the sunroom with the attic above us or walking through the little room in the second story where the attic door is, we could hear the squawking of the baby birds. As they got bigger, they got progressively louder and squawkier. We were counting the days until they fledged.
One day shortly before Joel and Tee's visit, I was making up the bed for Lucas which happened to be in the little room with the door to the attic. I commented to Anne that I sure hoped the birds didn't bother or scare Lucas. It could be kind of creepy to hear the bird noises in the attic. A few minutes later we heard this extremely loud and persistent sqauwking. It sounded so close. I very cautiously opened the attic door and looked in. There was a little bird standing just on the other side, waiting for someone to OPEN THIS DOOR. He must have heard our voices and for some odd reason, came to the sound of our voices. There he sat, just looking at us and waiting for us to do something. Anne ran and got a bowl and I gently reached out and picked him up. He sat contentedly in my hands until I put him in the bowl. I had no idea what to do with him. He was feathered out and looked like he was about to fly so I took him outside and released him right below the entrance to the nest. I saw him around for a few days, a very tame little fellow. I assume he got his wing strength up and flew off. Since we have no cats I knew he was probably safe from predators.
That was about three weeks ago. Yesterday, I was in the house and heard this funny peeping and tapping. At the front door a little head was popping up and down - a young robin was on the front step, hopping up and beating on the glass door with his beak, cheeping all the while. I went to the door and he moved over to the side of the step. I talked to him for a bit and then went back in the house.
A while later, Anne said, "Mom, you have to come see something funny in the garage." As we were unpacking back in April I hadn't known what to do with a little primitive birdhouse I had. Finally I had set it on the stair rail to the back entrance of the house (inside the garage), thinking that eventually I'd know where to hang it outdoors. It was to this little birdhouse Anne pointed. There were two little bird poops on the top of the birdhouse. She had come out the back door earlier to find the little robin perched on top of the birdhouse, waiting for someone to come out the back door. He had hopped down and walked out of the garage, calm as you please. We were chuckling about it later when Kenji happened to walk through. He pulled out his phone to show us a picture of baby bird he'd found perched on a ladder in the garage. It wasn't the same robin, just another random fledgling who sought temporary shelter in the open garage.
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| Birdhouse with roof "decorations". Judging by the color of the decorations, I'd say this birdie has been eating ripe mulberries. Lots of them! |
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| After leaving the top of the birdhouse |
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| Sauntering out of the garage |
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| No hurries, no worries... |
You just never know what kind of creature will show up here. Or at which door or window they will come squawking, cheeping or tapping. I take it as a good sign that they find sanctuary here.
