This morning we hung a new bird house on a maple tree in front of our house. A pilot hole, drilled to facilitate inserting the screw holding the bird house, promptly began oozing sap, so that part of our seasonal phenology is still working. Warm days and cool nights make the sap flow.
I have no idea what species, if any, may use the house for nesting. In fact, the new house may be too close for comfort to an old bluebird house near the lilac and forsythia bushes, which are just across the driveway from where some species of birds build a nest on the housing for the heat and motion sensing "yard light” mounted on the outside corner of the garage.
 |
| bear(?) smashed bluebird house
Photo by J. Harrington
|
Last summer what we presume was a bear took down the bluebird house behind the house, we think to get at the fledglings inside. We had that house in that location for years without bear issues. Then a few years ago a 2" x 4” that held a house was snapped. The replacement was a 4” x 4” holding the house about 6 feet above the ground. Not enough!!
Later in the season, something broke up the bat house we have mounted about 10 feet up on an oak tree. Didn’t see any signs of bear claws and can’t imagine what else might have the strength to pull the front off the bat house. Someday soon we’ll take down what’s left and see if it’s worth repairing. Maybe it’s time to find somewhere to mount a trail cam and see who’s visiting us when we’re not looking. A 4” x 4” 6 feet high might be just the spot if a smashed bluebird house were removed.
Birds Again
A secret came a week ago though I already
knew it just beyond the bruised lips of consciousness.
The very alive souls of thirty-five hundred dead birds
are harbored in my body. It’s not uncomfortable.
I’m only temporary habitat for these not-quite-
weightless creatures. I offered a wordless invitation
and now they’re roosting within me, recalling
how I had watched them at night
in fall and spring passing across earth moons,
little clouds of black confetti, chattering and singing
on their way north or south. Now in my dreams
I see from the air the rumpled green and beige,
the watery face of earth as if they’re carrying
me rather than me carrying them. Next winter
I’ll release them near the estuary west of Alvarado
and south of Veracruz. I can see them perching
on undiscovered Olmec heads. We’ll say goodbye
and I’ll return my dreams to earth.
********************************************
Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.
No comments:
Post a Comment