elfin

The Saga of the Pidgeons.

First we tried to get rid of them as a complex. I griped about them, cursed them, and bought a fake owl to try to scare them off. The line when I put the owl out was "well, the pidgeons think the owl is great fun...." We couldn't figure out why the weren't deterred...

And then we found the nest, complete with eggs, tucked behind my plant shelf, next to some firewood that, shamefully, was here when we moved in and never got removed.

We became instantly attached to momma pidgeon. Toby even somewhat bonded with her, gaining enough trust to be able to walk out on the balcony to put things in the recycling bin without her flying off. I never gained such trust. We refused to let people smoke on the balcony when we hosted poker last weekend, and have generally altered our usage of the balcony to accomodate.

This morning, we noticed a broken egg on the balcony and momma pidgeon more resolute not to leave her nest than ever. We panicked... were the chicks hatched? were they ok? The pidgeon we assume to be Papa Pidgeon even made a couple of visits. We've been watching through the patio doors for some sign of the chicks.

At last, Momma pidgeon flew off to get food and we were able to take a look (and Toby got pictures). Two healthy chicks.

We're proud godparents.

Happy Mother's Day, everyone.

Momma Pidgeon


The Eggs (and ineffective owl)


The Chicks!