Funny Friends

Last May, a robin built her nest under our deck, and three little eggs were hatched.

One seriously concerned bulldog would sniff through the cracks of the deck multiple times per day, and pawed and barked and fussed at them so much that I finally had to cover the area above them with plywood until they moved out. One of the baby birds, a cute little female, took a curious liking to the silly bulldog, and all last summer they would "play" together. The bird would fly to one end of the yard, land upon the fence, and sit in wait for Lily to chase her. The bulldog would charge, then the robin would fly to the other end of the yard, land upon the fence, and wait some more. I tried to get photos of them playing together, but it was so difficult to get them both in the same frame, so I gave up. This game continued for 5 to 10 minutes, multiple times per day, until fall came and the snows fell, and the bulldog and I kind of forgot all about the little robin.

 Fast forward to May 2014. It had been very cold outside, and I didn't really bother to go out much, but on the first warm day of May, I noticed a bird nest on a drain pipe near the upper part of our deck. I also noticed that the momma bird didn't fly away when I let Lily outside on her own, even though Lily would often sit right under the nest. Lily also has never barked at the nest, which is much different than the reaction to birds she had last year. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was the same female bird that was born here last spring! She has some interesting grey/whitish spots on her underbelly and tail feathers so she is fairly easy to identify. Sometimes I hear a screech and look outside, and they are playing their chase game just like last year. We (the humans) have learned that if we go outside quietly, and move slowly, she will also allow us to get fairly close to the nest. She will sit contentedly in her little home while we barbecue and is not bothered when we eat at the outside table. Her nest is up fairly high so I can't see directly into it, so have no idea how many eggs are there, but am thinking I need to get  a stool and take a peak.

I think it's pretty amazing how friends can come in all shapes and sizes.