Traditionally one of the initial signs of spring is the sighting of the first robin. Upon their arrival robins and other birds seek places to build their nests and lay their eggs. It's all part of that infamous circle of life.
Now I like when the birds come back. There's nothing like waking up on a spring morning and hearing the birds singing. Spotting a cardinal, a blue jay or a robin in my back yard is cool.
But when birds pick places to build their nests that you don't want them to it's a problem.
Over the last couple of years some small birds (not sure what species they are) have been building their nest in the inside top corner of our carport. It's not been a real problem but at times not the most convenient thing. There have been several instances of the female birds in protecting their nests have playing "dive bomber" with us as we have gotten in or out of our cars. They've never done anything harmful but it's really rather bothersome.
This year the carport birds have not returned. But we've had another problem. Earlier this month a pair of robins decided to start building their nest on the top of our the light fixture outside our back door.
When I first noticed it the nest was only in the initial stages of construction. I took it down and threw it in the yard. From then on for about 2 weeks whenever one of us, Paula or me, discovered the build up of grass and twigs on the fixture would knock it down and sweep it off the back deck.
But the nesting instinct prevailed and our insistent would be tenants continued to build on top of our light fixture. One evening, after being gone all day, we found a completed nest. Their persistence was kind of inspirational. But nevertheless we didn't want a nest there.
I removed the full nest feeling kind of sorry that I had to be "the bad guy" to the innocent birds. We needed to find something that would permanently discourage them from rebuilding. Paula suggested getting a rubber snake.
I went to our local dollar store to try and find a fake reptile. I didn't find one but I did find a tin decorative bird that was painted to look like a cardinal. I reasoned that if the robins saw what they thought was another bird taking over their nesting spot they'd move on.
I brought the metal cardinal home and put it in the place you see in the picture at the top of this post. I even let some of the remnants of the robin's efforts on top of the light so it would look like the decoy had claimed the territory for itself.
The fake bird has worked. The robins have not been back. For a while I felt kind of proud that I was smart enough to come up with a solution to our problem. Then I realized I shouldn't take too much credit. All I did was outsmart a pair of birds. :)
Sometimes I wonder just where those robins decided to build their nest. I really felt bad that I couldn't let them build where they wanted to. I'm sure they found another place. I mean have you ever seen a "homeless bird"? My minor case of guilt was exploited when the other day while walking my dogs I found a robin's egg laying, not in a nest but, in the grass. How ironic is that?
I really love the color of a robin's egg. One my all time favorite pictures that I've taken is of a robin's egg in the palm of my hand. I picked up the egg I found and brought it home. I'd like to find a way to empty it, wash it out, and preserve it. I'm not sure if I will. It sits outside in an empty flower pot. Again, how ironic is it that, after all I went through to discourage the building of a nest, sitting outside my house is a robin's egg?
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