A year ago when we realized that not one, but two, bird families were taking up occupancy on our backyard pergola behind our speakers, we were delighted!  A perfect example of nature so close we could touch it! But we wouldn’t and we didn’t…obviously. We felt honored that these bird families deemed our home adequate enough to raise a family. We peeked at them everyday and then, when we finally heard tiny chirping from the open windows right below the nest, well, we knew the big day had come. There were at least four new little birds in the home and two proud parents. Despite mama and papa’s disdain over our desire to get closer looks at their offspring, we still climbed up on the chair to snap a couple shots like this one:

Sweet little newborns

It’s actually our home that we were letting them live on…rent free, nonetheless. It was seriously like a little apartment complex back there. Seemed their bird aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends were coming by to greet the new additions. Birds flew this way and that way and every time we tried to actually be the human owners of this property and live as such, the birds began to throw a little attitude! With the squawking and the chirping…not to mention one dive-bombed Chris’s head when he was out grilling one night! Chris had been nothing but respectful of their family situation. He even moved the grill to avoid their flight path, as perhaps the little ones were gearing up to leave the nest.  And besides that, the birds used our entire pergola, our patio, our chairs and table that we eat off of, as a restroom. I shall spare you the details but please understand that we had to hose down the whole place every time we wanted to enjoy sitting outside. Ahem, one night dried bird poop actually fell from the pergola and onto my husband. Our tenants had overstayed their welcome and had they given a security deposit, well, they most certainly would not see it again!

Fast forward to this year and the first signs of spring. You had better believe Chris and I were outside on a very regular basis checking to make sure there was no moving-back-in-activities taking place. We were pleased with what we saw (or didn’t see)… until yesterday. 

In the early evening there were two strings and a twig hanging from the speaker mount – right where it all began last year. As well as a stock pile of other nesting supplies on the patio floor below. 

Oh, it was on….

I marched right inside, grabbed the broom and swept the nest supplies all down and away. No way and no how am I going to let these bird families take over my backyard like they did last year!

This morning at 6:30, I went out back to see if they had started to rebuild. This is what I saw… 

However, please try to imagine this twiggy cluster tucked up behind where the speaker is. This is what it looked like upon my pulling it down with the broom. 

I know! Call me what you will…brute, barbarian, not-a-bird-lover…. That’s fair. But, I have made it my mission to save our beautiful human family space, which we worked very hard on to prepare for the season, thank you very much, from the likes of these winged-creatures who have zero regard for where they use the restroom! 

With that said, I was naive to think that this endeavor would be easy or wouldn’t require a fight. Not four hours later I returned to find out these birds are just as determined to build a nest as I am to take it down! Another cluster about that same size had been rebuilt.

I took it down.

And as I took it down, the skin on my back felt kind of tense, as I half expected a dive-bomb at any moment. I knew those two birds were watching me from the fence. I swept up all the debris and went back inside after shaking my fist at them. 

I actually shook my fist.

I came back outside 10 minutes later and saw this…

I guess its hard to tell from the picture, but those are twigs and nest-building components that the birds had already begun to stockpile in my absence!!

So, I would like to say to you this: It has been 24 hours since I took down the first indication of a nest. In those hours I have put the kibosh on construction 11 times!! Even the second to last time I went out the birds didn’t even fly away to the fence!! They only flew above me to the top of the pergola, at which point, in their direction, I actually whined the words, “You cannot build here!”  

I will be the winner of this battle. 

Now, where’s that broom?

Please note: No birds were harmed during writing of this blog post.