The Birds...

An exciting week on the nature front...but first a little background:

Almost a year ago to the day, we had roof repairs made. We did this for a number of reasons: the roof had serious leakage in places, and a family of birds had taken up residence inside the eaves, basically in our kitchen ceiling. I hadn't thought much of it since, the roof was repaired, leak stopped, birds evicted - end of story, right? Well it wouldn't be much of a post now, would it?

So, the weather being beautiful (but extraordinarily dry) I was out on the deck watering my spring plantings. I was vaguely aware of a bird splashing in what little water must have accumulated in the gutter above the sliding glass door behind me. I assumed he was a resident chickadee at the Maple Inn Birdhouse, (obviously nailed to the Maple tree just off the deck). I made a light salad for dinner that night and we ate on the deck "al fresco". As we sat in the twilight, I looked up and noticed the bird, again standing in the gutter on the roof. As he was standing in nearly the spot where we had the access hole repaired a year ago, I decided to take a closer look. I stood on a chair and realized that what I had taken for a gutter downspout was, in fact, a perfect square of flashing that had been PEELED back from the eaves in order to build another nest in my ceiling! I was amazed - it was a perfect door, and I have no idea how this little bird had the ability to bend a four inch square piece of metal away from my house...After giving it some thought, I have decided that this is one of the birds that hatched from my ceiling last year, and had returned to start it's own family this year. The fact that his previous residence didn't exist anymore proved no match for instinct. A reminder to me that in reality, these animals have emminent domain, and they are tolerant enought to allow me.