We sit in our comfy chairs, and turn the tv on at supper. If I look to my left, I can see a small patch of fence beyond the back, patio doors. What I have been seeing lately are starlings. They sit on the fence with their beaks full of nesting material. They look up and eventually fly toward the sky.
Except it isn't the sky to which they fly but to our eaves.
They've removed the vent cover up there and are happily building a nest inside the covered eaves. I suppose that weather had loosened the vent, and the birds finished the job, for we found the vent screen on our deck
We've called a roofer guy. He will come and clean it out and install a new cover once our fine-feathered friends have raised their young and vacated the premises.
The cost will be $200, but nobody in this house is going to ascend two-storeys on a precarious ladder to do the job. For my part, I have a wonky foot and have trouble ascending even a rung or two on a stepladder. Besides, I am not a height-loving dude.
Anyway, I got the pics at full zoom, through glass, all the way from my chair. They still had to be cropped mightily, but I like them, especially the next one, which is also the final one for today.
25 comments:
Oh the perseverance of life! Glad to hear you'll wait till the little ones have flown. And double glad you're not going up on ladders!
The starlings are such talkers. Noisy critters but entertaining too. Great photos.
I have a similar such nest built underneath my deck that will be cleared out sometime after the young fledge.
Kinda cute to watch the industrious critters. Glad you're not planning to fly up there and staying safe from your chair. You could film their construction efforts as an official National Geographic documentary to recoup the cost of the removal. Linda in Kansas
We have had the same happen a time or two over the years. I could never destroy the nest and close it up, we too had to wait until the young'ins hatched and left the nest.
Nice to wait till the young have flown. But a big nuisance for the parents to have broken and entered.
I have swallows under my eaves on the east end of the house. They don't best inside, though. The make nests of mud. You did a very good job with those photos. Your windows are cleaner than mine!
You are kind to wait for the young to fly the nest. Better be quick incase there's another clutch of eggs to follow.
Nice photos, but those birds!!!
In 2002 we had a tornado blow through and drop a tree on our house. Within days a construction company came to start tearing and rebuilding. (Those were the days!!) When they took the steel sheets off they discovered there was no insulation in large patches and several of the biggest birds nests you can imagine. The nests were full of all kinds of rubble. (I honestly thought only crows did that, but I guess they ARE first cousins) The starlings had gotten in through the eaves.
Totally sweet... and how wonderful you'll be able to continue watching in the near future - ahhh great.
They are beautiful with their shimmering plumage.
I wish you much joy.
Hug
They are cute but I remember the owner of the local blueberry farm cursing them since they loved her berries. :) I don't like ladders or heights either. It's great that the roofer is waiting until the starlings are finished with the space.
Great photos of a not much loved bird. The detail in the last one is pretty amazing, especially considering you took it through glass.
$200 doesn't seem too bad, when one takes ladder and age into account! Nice of you to let the birds raise their young before fixing it.
You're smart not to climb a ladder.
Starlings haven't been in my yard yet this spring, but there's everything else I can think of: magpies, crows, chickadees, orioles, blackbirds, redwinged blackbirds, grackles, coots, teals, ducks, geese, swallows, black-capped sparrows, snipes, robins, goldfinches .. even a couple turkey vultures flew over, this morning. Then the birds it's a miracle to see, but they can be heard: the soras. I await the wrens with the hope they'll nest in the birdhouse I tied into the oaks outside the front window.
You get much better photos than I do!
Love the shots. I couldn't figure out what the 1st one was at the beginning.
Excellent pictures! I am very fond of starlings--some years we have them nesting here but none are here this year. Such cheeky birds!
Well, being a naturalist, starlings are an invasive species and are not supposed to be here.
The bird is definitely a cutie
Yes, cute, and hopefully not too destructive. Glad you are waiting until the chicks are hatched before you have the roofer come in. Hope to see more photos!
Cute indeed. Yet, kind of a transactional relationship with the expenses. Sigh.
I've never liked starlings, but I think you're very thoughtful to wait until the young fledge before dealing with this problem.
They sure are a pain.
And clever to find a nesting spot in safety around your place.
Starlings are rather beautiful birds IMO. They get a bit of a bad rap for their behaviors at times but morphologically, to me they are robustly attractive.
Sorry about the vent issue. I know what you mean about heights. I am that way too. We have birds (in our case, boisterous wrens) that pecked through a thin wooden soffit above one of our second floor windows and has take up nesting in the space. I hear them in my office/den window. Aggravating sounds of pecking around much of the day. My conundrum is three fold. The wooden soffit area needs to be hand cut to the unique dimensions of the panel (which I do not know) and painted to be put up as a replacement, it is the second story, and I am both uncomfortable with heights but also a penny-pincher….. so I continually have an internal debate on if I should do it. It would likely be a multistep process and likely be $500 to do as it would likely take several trips to fix with all the finagling needed. I could do it, but the ladder is rather frightening to think about…. and my largest ladder may be a bit short for reach.
PipeTobacco
I hear you on that. I gave up ladders a few years ago and haven't regretted a minute of that!
More than just cute! Stunning! Great work, AC xoxo
Oh lovely shots. But the dratted birds are expensive guests. I think our eavestrough cover has survived so far this year but, like you, I am not going up there to find out. The intrepid climbing daughters can do it. Or, we have a strong and willing neighbour who shovels in the winter and does heights.
One of the most amazing things I recall seeing is another neighbour, a pro builder, who was shingling our roof. He stepped off the roof onto the extension ladder with an armful of shingles, FACING OUT.
Gulp.
We have very intensive insurance coverage. I was glad of it that day, even though he was perfectly calm and steady.
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