Baby Birds

Baby birds are cute, fluffy, and a pain in my butt. I have two separate issues going on right now with baby birds. Birds built a beautifully intricate nest by our front light near the front door. They put the nest right on top of the motion detector. We first noticed it when we arrived home from Florida. A big clue was the increasing amount of bird poop on the front stoop. Well, that bird poop has rapidly turned into a PILE of poop! I don't mind so much because we hardly ever use our front door. There are two parent birds and at least 3 baby birds hanging out in the tiny nest. I really doesn't bother me except when I know I'm going to be getting a package. I'm afraid that the delivery person will scare the birds and one might fall out. Thankfully I realized yesterday that the babies know to duck and hide when anyone approaches. So I'm feeling more confident about those birds.

However, the past few days in the back yard there has been another issue. There are two parent birds that keep dive bombing my dogs. I know that they are probably trying to protect something. The first day it happened I looked all around and found nothing. My dogs found nothing also. Yesterday while Ryan and I were eating lunch I spotted the baby bird on the ground hopping around. It was capable of climbing a few feet up into a tree so I had hope that maybe this situation would take care of itself. I locked the dogs in and gave it time. Hours later I went to check and didn't see the bird. I was about to go in, when I spotted it along my fence line. I made a feeble attempt (with gloves of course) to see if the bird would let me place it in a tree. This bird isn't stupid, and it ran away. The parents are very protective of it, so they're at least still around. A half hour later, it was back up a few feet of a tree. It was getting dark so I knew my dogs would have no interest in wandering the yard, and it would be safe from us for the night. This morning I walked all around and didn't see anything. The parent birds are still around. When Sammy (the pug) went out the parent bird almost attacked him. Poor Sammy ran to hide and I called him in. He was scared and thought he had done something wrong. I went out again to look and saw the baby bird is getting closer to the deck and is on the ground. Grrrrreat...grrrr. I have the gate to my yard open hoping it will go away. I've done everything I can for this bird. I really need this situation to resolve itself and hopefully in a good way for the birdie.

Now do you understand why I'm not so happy with all the baby birds around here?

***UPDATE: Although reluctant to help at first, Pat was the hero of the day. He got the baby bird back up into a tree with the parents. I know that many will say you shouldn't touch a baby bird, but we did it with gloves. The way I figure it anyway is that the choice was: give it a chance in a tree with its parents or let my dogs eat it. I chose to give it a chance. Hopefully this probably is done for today and yay! for Pat!

Desperate Times Call For...

Desperate times call for desperate mothers. As I've said the weather this past week or so isn't the greatest for spending too much time outside. Yesterday Ryan and I had a pool and water table day, but his cheeks grew red very quickly from the heat. Today is a similar kind of day. I just couldn't bring myself to change Ryan into his bathing suit and slather him with sunblock for such a short amount of time outside. I wanted to think of something new and fun to do with Ryan indoors, but wasn't coming up with much. I decided we could have a pool day indoors--in the tub. Believe it or not, Ryan has never been in the master bedroom's giant soaking tub. I figured this would be a perfect time to try it. I gathered up a handful of the bath toys and began filling the tub. I added a little bubble bath to make it extra fun. I got in the tub and placed Ryan standing in there too. It was instantly clear that he did not like this tub. I'm not sure if it was the bubbles or the depth of the tub or both. He stood there and cried. I was soaking and had been ready to enjoy more than 20 seconds in the tub, so I tried to convince him it was fun. After a minute or two, he realized he had all his bath toys to play with and bubbles really were cool. He was still a little unsure of the curves of the tub, but I held onto him when I needed to. We enjoyed a good soak in the tub, and I think it was enough of an adventure for a boring summer afternoon.

Burnt

Yesterday Pat had a long day out in the field in full gear. Unfortunately for him, the heat, humidity, and sun were a brutal combination. When he called on his way home he was talking about how hot and tired he was. Then the conversation went like this:

Pat: I have one rule for tonight.

Michelle: Oh and what is that?

Pat: You can't say anything about sunblock.

Michelle: You got a sunburn didn't you? You didn't wear sunblock?

Pat: Yeah, but don't say anything, okay?

Michelle: Pat, I don't say it to annoy you. I love you and don't want you to end up with skin cancer. I only say it because I care.

He sure enough got burnt. His face was so red, well where his helmet strap and goggles weren't protecting him that is. It was almost comical looking because of all the various lines left from the gear. While we were out picking up fruit at Walmart I made sure to get him some SPF 70 for faces that says it helps repair sun damage too. I wish he would start listening to me about sunblock.