Bird houses

I mentioned that we in Calgary were expecting a couple of days of rain. Boy, you would think the end of the world was near. Sure, there was a devastating two mile wide tornado which totalled Moore Oklahoma, but we are going to have two whole days of rain! I’m not sure I will be able to handle all of the green that is bound to spring up shortly after the rain ends and there is also a possibility there might be more mosquitoes this summer than last. The roads are even going to be wet! There are things I love about this city, and many others that just drive me nuts. I’m pretty sure I will survive the great flood of 2013, but if not, this will be my last entry.

Buster and I managed to get in our morning walk before the rain started so we were free to watch the gentle sprinkling out the front window for the rest of the day. While we were walking, I was going over in my mind if I had rain proofed the house as best I could. Yep, windows closed! Job done.

I did feel kind of bad for the birds that are living in the birdhouses I put up last year. I had no idea when I put them up that any bird would be stupid enough to take up residence. Maybe that’s where the term “bird brain” comes from. They were more for decoration and quite frankly were not my best work. I mounted them at eye level and thought of them more as cat feeders than bird houses. The hot sun, high winds and winter cold has taken it’s toll on the poor things, and I meant to repair them but it turns out that the birds have already set up housekeeping.

The tiny shingles that looked so nice last year have mostly blown off and there are sizeable gaps in the roofs structure. Personally, I think that the birds can just suck it up. Wild birds make do with a bunch of sticks and mud jammed between two branches with no roof at all. However, my birds are spoiled and I kind of feel that I am sort of responsible like an absentee (small “g”) god. Before it began to rain I went out with a stapler and a piece of plastic to fix the roof. I stapled the one side on and started on the other when there was a flutter of feathers and a grey blur shot out of the hole that is the front door. I’m not sure but I think I heard the bird say “Oh, for fuck sake!” as it sped away. He’ll thank me for the plastic…probably.

The other house has a toque for roofing material and it should wick the rain away. I don’t know that for a fact, but even if it doesn’t, I didn’t force the birds to live there. Come to think about it, that particular bird was using cellophane from a cigarette pack for nesting material. Maybe it was doing its own DIY on the roof. I wish that bird all the luck in the world, but any idiot knows that the waterproof layer has to be on the outside.

I put up another birdhouse that I made this year and if it were me I would have moved into that before the rains came. It’s made of a flowerpot and not only does it look nice, but it is located under the eaves, is waterproof and spacious. It would definitely be an improvement over last year’s model home. Some lucky bird will move in and the others will undoubtedly be insanely jealous.

 

It seems that everyone on the property have a nice, warm and dry place to stay out of the storm. Well except for those fucking squirrels and they can freeze their nuts off for all I care.