Nesting Again

I don’t know what’s going on this year. In the past, we put out bird houses, but they were always vacant. Eventually, I gave up on the bird houses except as indoor décor.  

In April, I wrote about the Oregon juncos who built a nest in a hanging basket outside our kitchen window and hatched a family.

A few weeks ago, whoever came through the front door came in hurriedly, waving their arms over their heads, and quickly slamming the door. After observing a few of these frantic entrances, I asked my son’s friend, Dave, what was going on. He told me that a crazy bird was buzzing him whenever he came up on the front porch, and had been doing it for a couple of weeks. Then my son, his girlfriend, and my daughter chimed in saying the mad bomber had attacked them too.

Further investigation revealed that the height of the potential victim didn’t matter. Mama bird buzzed all heights ranging from 5’4” to 6’5”. Hair color didn’t seem to factor in either, she buzzed blonds and brunettes equally. (We haven’t had any redheads visit lately.)

There were, however, two curious unexplained exceptions.  Neither my husband nor I, ever got buzzed. It’s not surprising that I’m unscathed because I usually come and go through the garage.  But John parks out in the driveway and goes in and out through the front door, so it’s strange that he never got beaten with the fluttering wings.

This week mama bird’s attacks have tapered off. We’ve spotted her perching on the porch railing long enough to identify her as a house wren. Her eggs have hatched and there are three baby bird mouths cheeping to be fed.

She built her nest in a “Welcome” sign shaped like a house that’s nailed beside our front door. She really took that “Welcome” to heart despite all the traffic in and out, the porch light shining all night long, two dogs barking at anyone walking up the street, and almost continuous piano playing with two music majors home for the summer. She must be a “city” bird who loves being in the middle of the hustle and bustle of activity.

Two nests in one year when we weren’t even trying to attract birds. That’s a new record for us! I can’t help but wonder what the big bird attraction was this year.

Laura Keolanui Stark found one strand of her hair dangling from the newest nest. She can be reached at stark.laura.k@gmail.com.