Robin's Nest
 

I live in a very wooded area in New Hampshire. I have two front doors on my house. One of the front doors is rarely used. A couple of years ago, I tried to turn the light on at that door one night and realized the bulb needed to be changed. The next day, when we went to change the bulb, we realized that a Robin had made its nest on top of the light fixture (of all places). So, we watched the nest and baby Robins hatched and flew away. We removed the nest in the fall. (Robins can have two broods a season, I believe.) End of story--right? In May, we went on vacation for about a month, and when we returned, there was another Robin's nest on top of the light fixture. Last week, my husband said, "Look, there is a Fox in the back yard. We watched it go around the house and later it dawned on me that the Fox may have been after the Robin's eggs. I haven't had the heart to look.

We have had Flycatchers make their nest, year after year, underneath an overhang on our house.

When we lived in North Carolina, we had a large brick gas fireplace. A guy from the gas company came out to inspect it prior to use and he put a tag on it and told us it wasn't safe to use and that for about $500 he would come out and replace the defective tubing. We never called him and we just didn't use the fireplace. Several years later, we were getting ready to sell the house and I called the same gas company to fix the fireplace. The man who came to the house told me that the other guy was running a scam, that he had been fired, and that there was nothing wrong with our fireplace. Nice, huh? Anyhow, during one of the years we lived in the house, we heard fluttering in the chimney area behind the wall above the fireplace. Turns out we had a nest of Chimney Sweeps living in there. We waited for the babies to grow up and fly away, and then we sealed the chimney off.

Another time, when we lived in Ohio, we heard a frantic fluttering noise in the wood stove in the basement. We opened the door and a bird flew into the house. And once, in North Carolina, we found a live bird trapped in our gutters. And finally, here in New Hampshire, we have found both a Chickadee and a Hummingbird trapped in our garage. Thankfully, we were able to free them.
Superstition has it that if a wild bird flies into your house, you are destined for bad luck, and there may possibly be a death in your circle of family and friends. We have Whiporwills perch in our back yard and keep us awake every summer. The first time we ever saw one, it was on our roof. That is also supposed to be a sign of bad luck. If that is the case then I am doomed!

Don't think so. My cat, Sassy, is always bringing me a bird. She never kills them, just catches them and brings them in the house. She is always just so proud of herself. Last time took me over a half hour to catch it and take it back outside. I had feathers everywhere. Sassy was mad at me because I turned her gift back to the wild.

I used to have cats that brought the offerings up to the sliding glass door. Yes, I have had a "sacrifice" brought inside before too. I talked to the vet about it and he grinned and told me that they were contributing to the pride. He said to hang a bell around their neck and it would help. But they were indoor/outdoor cats, and the flip side of that coin is that it would be cruel to put an alarm around their neck in the event that they were in the position of being the prey. They were just acting on the nature of their instincts. If you're going to own animals, unless you keep them inside all the time, they are going to do what nature has designed them to do. I did have a Maine Coon who used to make the neighbor mad. He would sit on top of her bird house and wait for a bird to come out.

Don't believe all those "bad luck" stories. All the birds that find you mean that you are a special and kind person and they know it.

Thank you Silly Susan. I have actually had Chickadees eat bird seed out of my hands before, so I think they trust me. Made me feel like Dr. Doolittle.

I have a floral wreath on my front door and wrens build a nest in it every spring. We use the front door so it gets opened a lot but they don't seem to mind.

Love those birds. I don't consider them bad luck, but feel blessed to be able to enjoy them. We have cardinals that nest every year in the Fire in the Bush out our bedroom window; Eastern Bluebirds that raise in the bluebird house outside the livingroom window; Flycachers build nests and raise young on the top of the patio light. Right now we are watching and waiting to see the young from a Goldeneyed duck come out and down from a nest in a cavity of the tree about 30 feet from the front porch.

That is so cute. It's a case of life imitating art.

You are so lucky to have bluebiirds. We are bird lovers at my house and we feed them well. That is part of the reason that there are so many that come to my house. We are lucky to have many types that visit our yard. It is such a treat when a new bird visits.

We have a "Sassy Girl" cat. But before her, we had K.C., an outdoor cat. He would bring his 'kills' to our door even tho he had to drag it up the steps to the deck. He would mostly bring baby rabbits--but once he brought a snake--still wriggling. I almost had a heart attack--sooooo afraid of snakes!!