We have a family of house sparrows nesting in a v-shaped support under the deck. The Bearded One tried to evict them by removing the beginnings of their nest several weeks ago, but they were too fast for him in the end. He went to work one day and by the time he got home, the nest was completed and they had already begun to live in it.
It isn't that The Bearded One hates birds, although he would rather that they didn't make a terrible racket outside the bedroom window early in the morning, it is that they use things that he cares about as a bathroom - like his car and the deck furniture and the deck itself.
One thing that Bearded One would dearly love to do is to remove the old (and now useless) TV antenna from the chimney. The house has been modified for both cable and dish, yet the old antenna is still there providing a handy perch for birds that want to foul the stairs and handrail leading from the patio to the deck. Last weekend he got out the power washer. He cleaned the stairs and after much intervention and much grumbling, agreed not to power wash the deck while the birds were in residence - the fact that there were eggs in the nest did a lot to dissuade him.
The nest was occupied, the eggs had hatched, and on Friday morning (following an unexpected summer rain on Thursday night) it was collapsing. Ms. Flippers, an incipient wildlife biologist, was concerned. We got gloves and tried to push the nest back together, but it was too far gone. Deciding that if we did nothing the nestlings would die but if we did SOMETHING there was a chance - we got a 4 cup gladware bowl, slid the remains of the nest (and one of the nestlings) into it, retrieved the second nestling from the bare wood of the deck support and gaffer taped the entire thing in place. Then we sat back to see whether or not the bird parents (who had been watching the entire enterprise from the back fence) would return.
Yes, with in about 10 minutes they were back and have seemed to be unaffected by the presence of the plastic bowl. We still hear cheeping from the nestlings and see them feeding every evening while we watch Jeopardy, so we know that all is well.
All being well - that brings us to the crows (again). There is a HUGE flock of them in the neighborhood and they LOVE our yard - well, not so much the yard as the power line that runs across the back of the property. It is the perfect vantage point for them to survey the "done-ness" of the produce. They started with our peaches. They have moved on to our tomatoes and our cucumbers. At this point we are thankful that they seem not to care for the Persian Cucumbers... because that is all that we have left that has not been pecked to inedibility. We have yet to get an undamaged tomato off of any of the myriad plants that we put in. They have also started in on the green beans. We tried the Trail of Tears beans
The Bearded One has installed an electronic scare crow - the same one that we used last summer as a "scare raccoon" by the pond:
(see this), (and this), and (this)
You just set the frequency differently and aim it at the garden. Since its installation 4 days ago we have had no crows show up to feast. Of course, we have had no mature edibles for them to attack either. Time will tell as far as the crows go, but we do know that Stubble and The Bearded One can no longer go into the back yard because the high frequency hurts their ears. The "new" plan (should this prove to work long term) is to hardwire the Yard Sentinnel(s) - I figure I need two more of them - and install an off switch near the back door to allow for man-type back yard work.
Now for the majestic, non-garden eating part of the animal world:
Last weekend it was The Bearded One's birthday. We celebrated by having good weather and going sailing. While we were tooling along the coast with me reading a biography of Jimmy Stewart, Stubble handling the jib sheets, and Ms. Flippers fishing off the stern; the Bearded One suddenly ordered,
"Reel it in! There are dolphins!"
And there certainly were dolphins. Usually if we see them at all it is one or two playing in the breakers outside the harbor. This time is was a pod (if that is the correct term) heading north along the same course we were following. There were probably 20 of them - racing each other and dancing in the sunshine. They were beside us for quite awhile and it was pretty spectacular. I much prefer them to crows.
And the really whippy part of this display of nature is that the night before, Ms. Flippers had given him a dolphin sculpture as a birthday gift.
Happy Birthday Bearded One. Isn't it nice that I was able to arrange for live dolphins at the last minute?
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