Phoebes

daily haiku

phoebe sounds alarm
little phoebe fell from nest
tender care for babe

Phoebes are not exactly my favorite bird. They squawk me awake at 4.30 am and poop down the window frame - in general they are noisy and messy. However, they love to live up here on the hill. They return each year to make a nest at the top end of a rain gutter - now who the heck would nest in a rain gutter?! Small brains, large poops!

When I comb the cat I throw her hair around the yard for the birds to use as nesting material, and Phoebe caught on to the idea since, if you look at the photo, you can see the white cat hair.

This morning she was flitting round the garden giving more than her share of soulful cries,and I noticed through the bathroom window a baby bird sitting on the bench where I keep some outdoor tools. I thought it fell out of the nest, went outdoors and picked it up whereupon it took flight and landed in the rain barrel! Poor wee timorous beastie! I rescued it and put it back on the bench figuring if it can fly that far it is leaving the nest and I need not try to devise a plan how to put it back in.

So I used it as my photo model for the day, and it was most obliging as I clicked away. The rest of rehab for it was to keep the cat indoors as long as possible to give it time to find it's wings. Sure enough it was gone by noon and Snowy went out to get her daily ration of fresh catnip.

I suppose I can count on that bird to come back and nest again next spring - wake me with raucous cries and go on pooping down my window frame. The cost of a soft heart.