bird wars

It's been like the freakin' Discovery Channel at our house lately.

Last spring a finch pair built a nest in the cubby shelf of our front porch. It was amazing to see those little birds work so hard to put the nest together, see mama stick it out patiently on the eggs, then watch the little peepers pop their heads up to be fed. But then sadly, the magic was over and they left us with a beautiful souvenir of their visit -- tons of poop caked all over the inside of the cubby. That's when we decided it was time to close up the cubbies.

Then a while ago, we saw what we thought to be the same finch couple fly around the front porch seeking out the location of their former digs. We could've sworn we overheard them saying, "What the hell? Where is that awesome cubby?" before flying off. But cubby or no cubby, it didn't stop a robin from trying to build a nest on the door frame of the extra door on our front porch. The poor determined robin must've made at least four attempts with each attempt leaving haystack-sized nest remnants on the porch floor.

Ed decided he'd help this poor bird out and built a little platform so it wouldn't have to balance the nest on the door frame. So, we picked up the latest nest attempt that had already been cemented together with mud and put it on the platform. Still, the stubborn bird continued to try building on the thin door frame. And its persistence has finally paid off because now there is a complete robin's nest precariously balancing on the thin door frame.

But the plot thickens. Yesterday, the finch friends came back and decided they'd start building a nest on the platform -- just a few feet away from the robin's nest. Papa robin did not like this one bit and said "Aw, HELLL no!" And this began the bird soap opera that Raisin and I witnessed from the front window and I managed to capture some of the juicy parts with photo.

Here's Mr. Robin on the platform seconds after chasing the finches away while screaming, "GET OFF MY PROPERTY!" Notice the large, 3-bedroom (complete w/ built-in jacuzzi) nest on the door frame.


Then, here he is taunting the finches he just chased away, "You want a piece of me?!?! Yeah, you better run, er...fly!!"


Then, from a nearby tree, our finch friends yelled, "Hey, we were here first! Do the words CUBBY LAST YEAR mean anything to you?!?!?


"I've got your cubby right here, pal!"


So, after getting the play-by-play, the husband decided to move the platform to the other side of the porch -- a good distance away from the robin's nest. And I'm pleased to report, the Finch Family has found it and is making good progress on their nest. Which led to the following exchange this morning:

HUSBAND: So, I think next year, I'll put platforms up in every corner with signs that say, "Nest here!"

ME: How about one that says, "If you lived here, you'd already be home."

HUSBAND: "Great nest platforms in the lower 100s...!!!"