I must have done something right this season, which I find pretty amusing since what I did mostly was ignore my garden. I cleaned out all the wonderful ornamental birdhouses as well as hung a few new ones. I cleaned out the pond and the birdbath fountain as well. I also discovered that the way to keep the bears out of the bird feeders was to have them empty of goodies by the end of the day. This actually works pretty well. Except for the one cinnamon colored adolescent who wants to swing from the holder.



Last year I put up a decorative wooden birdhouse and had several pairs of chickadees checking it out as possible accommodations. This year a pair, whom I swear was the same ones as last year, checked it out and moved in. I was amazed and pleased. It has been so much fun getting up close and personal with the whole chickadee family. The birdhouse is just a few feet away from one of the fancy bird feeders and this became the lunch spot of choice.

I wasn't really sure about the whole thing until one day this little wooden bird house started chirping at me. Well not actually at me because the kids were very well trained, even from an early age, to be very quiet if mom or dad weren't around. The birdhouse, the birdbath fountain and the birdfeeders were all very busy locations as mom and dad flew back and forth constantly to keep the little bird brains fed, boy can they eat! The kids got a variety of foods, some bird seed from me and an occasional bug from mom and dad. Mom was very tidy and every day she would sweep out the birdhouse.

As the kids got bigger, I think there are three, they also got louder and began doing the oddest thing. Every time I came back from somewhere and walked past the bird house it would hiss at me. Just one hiss that sounded a lot like a snake and would happen only if I had been gone and had just driven back up. I walked past the bird house many, many times in a normal day and everybody simply ignored me.

They moved out. I was hoping to watch the flying lessons but I think the little birdhouse just got too small for the family. I am watching for them, saw dad today. Eventually I hope to see the kids. Usually when birds that eat at my garden have children they bring them around to meet me. Experiences like this make all the hassle of cleaning out birdhouses, washing out the birdbaths and filling the birdfeeders such a joy. Oops I hear daddy chickadee yelling about something, I must go intervene.