Another Year. Another Nest.

My neighbors already know I'm nuts, so I have no qualms about lurking around my own yard in search of bird nests. I've hit gold pretty much every year since I planted the tall evergreen arborvitae at the front of the house. While the deer manage to turn said trees into giant penis-shaped greenery over the winter, the birds find the tops of the penises to be just fine for raising a family.

And, thus, I lurk until I find eggs then I watch baby birds grow up.

This year was no exception. I was getting attacked by birds every time I walked into the front yard, and there was a reason. There were nests on both sides of the sidewalk. Sadly, the nest nearest the driveway fell prey to some deer who returned for snacks and knocked it out of the tree. But! I still had the nest on the other side!

Except that it was up HIGH. It was way at the tippy top of the tree, so it was a struggle to get a photo of the birds, or even to see them. That didn't really stop me. I kept finding things to climb on, even going so far as to drag a footstool to the front yard, because BABY BIRDS! ME LOVE THEM!

Then one day I was walking through the dining room and a cat lost her fool mind lunging at the window. I followed the commotion and HELLO. BABY BIRDS. ONE FOOT FROM THE WINDOW IN PLAIN VIEW.

Photos taken through a window can never be as good as those taken without a window in the way, but no matter. Being able to watch baby birds all day every day wins!

So we all settled in. For a full 10 days, we were able to watch the babies get bigger and more alert. The cats and I thought it was the best thing ever. (They probably could have been nice enough to tell me sooner. Cats are jerks. Jerks who keep secrets.)

The fun has come to an end as the last of the babies flew away today. I managed to catch the first one take to the air for the first time, so while I'm sad it's done, I did make the most of it. So did the mom and dad birds.

Somewhere in that ten-day window, Mila figured out that there was something happening outside the window. It took her a while to notice the babies since they didn't move a lot and sort of blended into the tree, but once she did, it was GAME. ON.

"Bird! Bird!" every morning was the same.

Yesterday morning, though, I had important things to do (read: eat cereal), so I made her walk through the dining room without stopping. She corrected that while I cut a banana for her cereal, which isn't entirely unusual. Mila tends to have the run of the house because she's Mila. She can't be stopped.

Nor does she have any common sense.

When there wasn't anyone standing at the window to help her get to the baby birds, Mila took matters into her own hands. She did everything she could to climb the curtains, all the while screaming, "BIRD! BIRD!"

And there's your explanation for why the babies who seemed like they were going to stay FOREVER suddenly up and left. It was pure fear. Pure, justified fear.

At least I got to see the smartest of the birds leave while Mila tried to climb the curtain.