I don't know all the types of Little Brown Birds in my yard, but my Mother-in-Law tells me most of them are Juncos. I especially enjoy one particular bird house on top of the swing. Every year we get at least one bunch of bird babies out of it and I can see it from my bedroom window. I love waking up to their song, and I sit on the edge of the bed and watch them for a few minutes before beginning my day. It's such a gentle way to start the morning - especially after years and years of waking to an alarm clock at O-dark-thirty!
This is my favorite birdhouse.
And here are this years' occupants patiently waiting for me to move away from their home. Such a shy young couple!
Yesterday afternoon I heard the familiar raucous cawing of several crows in the yard. Noooooo! I ran out and looked and three or four crows are flying around the top of a redwood tree. They're being dive-bombed by a couple of mostly ineffectual Little Brown Birds, but the crows won out. While I was frantically trying to get at the pellet gun, they proceeded to kill and eat the contents of that nest. Not sure if there were hatchlings or just eggs in there. They were just about done by the time I located the tin of pellets and gone when I finally had the pellet gun loaded and ready to put some sting in their butts. Murder of crows, indeed. They probably flew right back over to the nearest fast food restaurant and ate stale french fries out of the dumpster for dessert. Or some flattened, dried out road kill lying in the street. Nasty birds.
I've heard that crows are smart and that they can remember an angry face for years. I hope they remember this angry face and make our yard a no-fly zone. But I'm ready now and the loaded pellet gun is leaning by the door.
It was a little quiet this morning. Luckily, the crows stopped at that one nest. They didn't get at the eggs in my favorite birdhouse. Maybe I'll hear them sing tomorrow.
