Elke and I have a long history of fostering wildlife and making them feel safe to visit. We’ve had all manner of birds making nests and bringing their babies into the world on this property. In our back yard, we have this artsy bird house sculpture that we bought at a music event.
Elke loves this bird house, and just about every year, we have a bird making its nest in it. In 2018 and 2019, a little bird, called a Western Wood-Pewee, made its home in the bird house.
In 2020, we had a small hive of wood bees make a next in the bird house, closely followed by two big black widows. That year, we had no birds in the house, for understandable reasons.
To help us clean out the bird house, I purchased a borescope camera that works with my cell phone. This is a pencil-thin camera on a wire. It has a light on the end, and I am able to examine cracks and crevices with it. We used the borescope and a hose to make sure that the old carpenter bee nest along with the black widows were completely gone. I actually took care to remove the still-live flushed-out black widows to a remote area of our park next door rather than kill them. As much as possible, everything needs love and care in this world.
In 2021, we had another Western Wood-Peewe nest in the bird house. These birds are very conscious of our attention. I remember that I was having trouble catching a glimpse of mother coming and going, but I knew that someone was in the nest, because I heard the squeaking babies. So I pulled out my borescope and carefully began to feed it down the entrance of the birdhouse to take a look. All of a sudden, up popped mom. She had her wings out to make herself look as big as possible, and she hissed loudly! It actually surprised me to the point of shock, and I almost tripped over my own feet as I jumped back. It was comical and a little sad that I had scared her. I never bothered her again, and I prayed that she wasn’t so offended that she wouldn’t come back the next year.
This year, we have an entirely new visitor, a Chestnut-Backed Chickadee. Elke and I are both so excited!
