Fierce Animals in the Yard
There is a wooden birdhouse in our dogwood in the front yard, and it had what I assumed was an aborted nest. You know how a bird will start to build in a crevice or cranny that seems likely to her/his bird eye, then be made too nervous to finish? My mailbox had previously contained one such nest foundation, until my avian tenant decided the traffic past his new home was too noisy. The birdhouse at Dogwood Place had ruptured and hung open, crammed with twigs, so I had looked in and decided some small someone had overloaded it, broke it, and fled.
Recently I noticed that a tiny brown bird with a short neck and an insectivore's beak was fussing at me when I passed the dogwood in my front yard. I have to partially circumnavigate the tree to get to the car.
The fussing was quite aggressive for such a little fellow, of mockingbird intensity but in such a teeny little bird! Very sweet. He had a lovely little piercing trill to his declaration, and he was really giving me Whut Fer. I tried to stay out of his way, figuring that it was his territory, so why not.
Recently, he had stopped fussing, so I forgot about him/her.
This morning I decided on the way to the car to check the birdhouse to see if it was reparable if I removed the stick overload. After all, someone might use it. I ducked into the dogwood and turned the birdhouse carefully towards me so as not entirely crack it open - and WHOOSH! There was my tiny titan on a branch near my head, looking at me. I apologized out loud, reflexivity, and ducked back out.
Now I'm in a conundrum, since the house needs repair, because with much extra weight, it will kiss the earth, but I don't want to disturb my little watchdog or his/her parenting. I am thinking if I can make a set of string loops and encircle the thing without touching it, if I can secure the walls and only bump it briefly. Not sure what I will do.
EDIT:We went out and tried a rubber band, then two strings around it to hold it together. There are four small brown speckled eggs in it, so we hope we didn't disturb it so much or close it so tight that the mother bird can't come back or get back in. Time will tell.
Recently I noticed that a tiny brown bird with a short neck and an insectivore's beak was fussing at me when I passed the dogwood in my front yard. I have to partially circumnavigate the tree to get to the car.
The fussing was quite aggressive for such a little fellow, of mockingbird intensity but in such a teeny little bird! Very sweet. He had a lovely little piercing trill to his declaration, and he was really giving me Whut Fer. I tried to stay out of his way, figuring that it was his territory, so why not.
Recently, he had stopped fussing, so I forgot about him/her.
This morning I decided on the way to the car to check the birdhouse to see if it was reparable if I removed the stick overload. After all, someone might use it. I ducked into the dogwood and turned the birdhouse carefully towards me so as not entirely crack it open - and WHOOSH! There was my tiny titan on a branch near my head, looking at me. I apologized out loud, reflexivity, and ducked back out.
Now I'm in a conundrum, since the house needs repair, because with much extra weight, it will kiss the earth, but I don't want to disturb my little watchdog or his/her parenting. I am thinking if I can make a set of string loops and encircle the thing without touching it, if I can secure the walls and only bump it briefly. Not sure what I will do.
EDIT:We went out and tried a rubber band, then two strings around it to hold it together. There are four small brown speckled eggs in it, so we hope we didn't disturb it so much or close it so tight that the mother bird can't come back or get back in. Time will tell.