So this happened:
And I felt bad that I’d been shoving mail onto this bird like he was some sort of Hogwarts owl but I felt even worse a few minutes ago when I was staring into the mailbox and saying, “Hello? Are you hungry? Do you need help?” without realizing that a neighbor was creeping up behind me and thinking I was insane. So I explained that I was not talking to the mailbox and that there was a bird squatter in there and she was like, “Oh yeah, that nest has been there for years. Every time the mail carrier pulls it out the birds rebuild it so now it’s just a bird house.” And I felt very happy to know that the bird could easily get out and was safe from predators but also pretty fucking unobservant because we’ve lived her for years and apparently I’ve been shoving bills on these birds forever.
********
And on an entirely different subject, it’s time for the Sunday wrap-up!
Shit I made in my shop (Named “EIGHT POUNDS OF UNCUT COCAINE” so that your credit card bill will be more interesting.):
Shit-you-may-or-may-not-want-to-see:
- Admittedly, it was not well thought out.
- Relatable.
- I’m moving to Australia and filling parking lots with airconditioned cars with no doors.
- Go read this.
This week’s wrap-up is brought to you by Palace Rings. Though you probably don’t want your teenager to act like a princess, you do want her to always feel like one. Palace Rings offers a great assortment of princess crown rings that will surely make anyone feel special. What’s not to like about a small crown you wear as a ring? The popularity of these rings continues to grow and teenage girls seriously love them. Let the princess in your life know that she’s special by getting her a crown ring! Use code BLOGGESS at checkout for 30% off. Click here to check them out.
Maybe the birds were enjoying reading your mail 😂😂😂
I hope you’re feeling better Jenny.
I think you posted the wrong video. This has you trying to get into the bear rug.
(Really? That’s so bizarre. I see the bird video. Can you refresh and try again? ~ Jenny)
I think you posted the wrong video. This has you trying to get into the bear rug. Is there a bird mailbox video?
Every year a very determined little Carolina wren builds a nest in our mailbox (the only place to leave mail). Every year we remove it at first sighting, she rebuilds it, we remove 2.0, she adamantly rebuilds, we reluctantly remove 3.0. Then, invariably, miffed, she relocates to a dogwood tree right outside our bedroom window and calls all summer long. And Carolina wrens are LOUD. REALLY LOUD.
This is hysterical. You’ve got the most amazing adventures, LOL. I was telling my aunt about you at family night this past weekend and how you gave us the option to write letters to one another (she saw some on my counter). I’m so happy to be apart of The Bloggess Tribe. I’m happy the birds are safe and your neighbor isn’t under the impression you like to converse with mailboxes for fun.
And Carolina Wrens are cool, really cool. I had one nesting in my window cos I forgot to put the screen down. Her mate disappeared and I helped her feed the baby birds (meal worms). Ever since I’ve had a good sized contingent of wrens around.
No doubt they were reading your mail and stealing your identity. I hope you didn’t send any cash!
A house Wren. Notorious for nesting in human supplied things, like old shoes, or hats, an old rubber tree plant, I kid you not happened every year at my in laws. They nested in a cubby in a organizer for nuts and bolts in my garage. Beautiful, cheeky little birds.
Birds have bills, so it totally makes sense that you’d give them your bills. On the upside if something doesn’t show up where it’s supposed to you can blame it on the birds being inefficient.
I have a pair of Carolina wrens that come nest on my patio every year. I finally set up a webcam to watch them. It’s so fun to see them build the nest and care for their babies. Carolina wrens mate for life and the male is very active in helping care for and raise the little ones.
But where are you supposed to put your outgoing mail then??
We have lots of birds in the tree by our upper deck. Unfortunately in the summer the cats go out on the deck and hide in the flowers in the window boxes and wait for the birds to fly too near, so the cats can no longer be out there unsupervised. I take the cats out there for cat brushes and the fur really flies; we have discovered the birds build nests under the deck and line them with the cat fur which I think serves the cats right, giving up their fur to the birds. I told my husband this…and he thinks I’m weird.
Usually the birds decide after the nest is broken a Number of times that the location is inhospitable. But that is prime real estate!
Last year, I took some kids to camp, and we discovered a nest of baby birds down a large corrugated rube. 2 days later, it was no longer a bird nest, it was a snake feeder.
Saw the video on Instagram still have questions. 1. What kind of bird is it? At least, at my moms house the wrens are persistent jerks about building nests ANYWHERE including inside a bag of recycling. 2. Where are you supposed to put your outgoing mail?? https://possumscatsthingsgnawingatme.wordpress.com/2019/03/30/third-wheel/
Jenny talking to a mailbox is peak Jenny. To appease anyone’s concerns; if it gets that many sticks in it must be able to get in and out, so the bird is fine.
My in-laws used to get barn swallows nesting by the back door. They’re super-aggressive and will dive bomb you to protect their eggs. I wish I’d thought of just throwing mail at them!
I’m still riding the high of saving two baby cardinals from the neighborhood cats last summer. They fledged too early, and all their peeping let the cats hone right in to where they were trying to hide in the grass. I sent pictures of those little peepers to a bona fide wildlife rehabilitator, and she confirmed that they hopped out of the nest too soon and helped me figure out what to do. Thank goodness for wildlife experts who are willing to answer calls, on weekends, from dummies like me.
It’s the owlery.
This happens to my MIL every spring…they build nests right over the lamp on her porch.
We had a giant spider living in our mailbox and the mail carrier left us a note about it. My husband relocated it to our neighbors’ mailbox.
My first thought was, are your bills getting paid?! I mean obviously they are, you would’ve realized it if they weren’t, but that was my first thought; You’ve been putting bills into a birdhouse, good thing the birds didn’t chew them up or something!
So every time you mail a check, you’re paying the WRENt.
HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Sorry.
I love that you got film of them! That baleful birdie glare was adorable. 🙂
Geez! You and weird animals! I only have nests in trees and bushes in my yard and under a couple of eaves of my house.
Enjoying my last evening of my foster mom and puppy before they go back tomorrow morning.
After reading this, I had this vision of your birds (a trio of course), singing Destiny’s Child’s “Bills, Bills, Bills”. Clearly I’ve had too much caffeine today.
My neighbors think I am crazy for doing far less than talking to a bird in the mailbox. (translation: my neighbors suck).
We had a Dove build a nest on the hitch of our fifth wheel trailer but then we needed the trailer so we carefully moved the nest while the Mom dive-bombed us. We told the guy at the office of the storage yard and he didn’t seem interested at all. He asked where we put the nest and we said “Duh! On the hitch of the trailer beside ours.” He said that the Road Runners would eat the chicks anyway so we shouldn’t worry about it. We felt like we were aiding and abetting but we didn’t have a spare few weeks to watch over the nest. We DID go back and apologize to the Mom though, for all the good that did. 🙄
That is insane and magical and adorable and everything I needed to start my Monday morning off right.
I had a bird build a nest in one of the thingys that holds my porch lights. When I realized it, I felt bad that each night I was blinding the poor thing. But then, why was it putting up with being there in the first place? Maybe, like your mailbox, the inconvenience outweighed security from predation. Or birds are just weird.
i had a beautiful night blooming cereus plant in a hanging basket that i had grown from a cutting from my friend’s grandmother. i would put it out on the shaded porch every spring & bring it inside in the fall. One year, a bird built a nest in its center & almost killed the plant, while simultaneously shitting all over my porch… i brought it inside for the rest of the summer.. the NEXT year, i figured i would try again. bird built a nest THE VERY NEXT DAY. i knocked the nest out. (no eggs or anything). the next day, the nest was rebuilt & that damn bird clipped off every piece of my cereus. waited a few years. put out a xmas cactus. nest the next day. i brought it inside, nest & all & have not put another hanging basket out there since. GAH!
Mama Bird: “Don’t look now, but she’s back, Jerry. She’s peeping through the front door and whispering.”
Daddy Bird: “There you go again, imagining things. You’re hormonal. It’s all those eggs.”
Mama Bird: “It is NOT my imagination! I told you this location was in a bad neighborhood.”
Daddy Bird: “Get off my back, Helen. I told you a condo is all we could afford until work picks up. You were fine with it when I did my courtship dance.”
Mama Bird: “Shut your beak and be quiet! There she is again….”
Maybe paint a nest on there to avoid future confusion?
U r hilarious and I love it. Mahalo!
Is it a wren? They are notorious for nesting in nooks and crannies. When we lived in Texas, one made her nest in a paper bag that we’d purchased onion starts in – I loved it. Now you can enjoy the semi-secret nest more often <3
I love how randos on your Insta commented about YOU shoving Hunter’s head in the bag – As If! He did that himself. And yes, catnip IN A BAG is messy… that’s why you sprinkle it on scratching posts, and toys, and anywhere you wanna watch the felines go nuts (i.e. everywhere).
I gotta make sure to rent an air-conditioned car when I finally make it to Australia. That was cool. kool. koal. um… ?
I think you should only put your junk mail in that slot.
Why does all the cool stuff happen to you. Stuff like that never happens to me…of course it would probably help if I left the house more often.
OMG Bler and the #UglyDogs are the beeeeeeeessst!!! She’s such a fantastic storyteller 🙂
Oh, the bird thing. Yes. I had a bird couple that kept trying to build a nest in my hanging planter–which was not a good idea b/c of wind and hawks. So I kept taking out what they’d started to build. We waged this battle for 2 WEEKS before they finally gave up:). So, I am thinking bird parents are just about as tigerish as human parents, no?
Laughing at the sight of you asking the mailbox, “Are you okay?” “Do you have enough to eat?” No wonder the neighbor did a double take. Thank goodness little birdie sounds okay.
Personally a little devastated I live 935 miles away, but so excited about this idea. We are lucky enough to have great book stores here in St. Louis (https://www.left-bank.com/). They have all kinds of amazing programming like book clubs, speakers and events. To me the most important thing is to create a genuine atmosphere. Don’t let it be anything you don’t want it to be and trust that when something feels unnatural (in the bad way) it may just not be right. Have a ferret if you want one, just maybe not more than one. My bookstore just lost our store kitty and we mourned as a community because he was really ours.
Such an exciting new adventure, one you are totally capable of tackling. Go get ’em!
I love that you got film of them!