Homewrecker

I feel so bad. I've been working around the house today, and on my several trips into the garage, I kept noticing a bird flying quickly out as I entered. We've had birds occasionally venture into the garage during the day when the door was up, or even get stuck in overnight a time or two, so I didn't think much of it. But on my way to the corner cabinet to obtain a paint can for a touch up, the bird flew by in a hasty exit for the fourth time today. I looked up, and finally noticed the evidence of a nest being constructed on the top of the large rug rolled up and stacked vertically in the corner. As I stood there trying to decide what to do, she flew back in, landed on the highrise nest, and neatly arranged another leaf in the concentric pile of pine needles and yard debris. She looked down at me, then flew off in search of more construction material.

We decided it wouldn't be fair to her to leave the nest. As cozy and perfect a spot as she had located, we couldn't leave the garage door up indefinitely. She would be constantly either trapped inside or excluded from her nest and subsequent young. So we carefully carried the rug out, gently removed her cozy home, and left it where she could reconstruct it.

I was sorry to have dashed her little avian hopes; after all, she had scouted out what must have seemed like the ideal setting and spent all day diligently building it. But Jeff pointed out that birds are much more resilient than we humans and she would just go build somewhere else. I guess we can take a lesson from the bird, as well as the ant.