One Bad Bird!

I am an avid gardener. I am that neighbor that drives the rest crazy every spring and fall because I am right out there digging, composting, mulching, pruning, moving around plants to make room for new additions-and I do it with enthusiasm! I am that motivator for everyone else-though not always willingly. I have gotten used to hearing their 'sighs' as they comment that I am making them look bad! We have fun with it though -I have some great neighbors.

One of the benefits of my obsession- I mean hobby, are ALL the birds who nest in my Bradford Pear trees, grapevine and Chinese Privets. Each spring the birds get busy building their homes as close to my house as possible, after all, my yard has one of the few 5-Star restaurants known to birds in our community! Each morning countless birds wait in line on the fence for their turn to dine in my veggie garden and compost pile.

This year two Northern Mockingbird's nested in my yard. We watched these Momma's work tirelessly, carrying twigs, twine, leaves and netting up to their new homes and then we waited with anticipation to hear the sweet sounds of baby birds chirping so we could get our first glimpse at our new fuzzy friends. That's when things turned bad!

Each morning I let my two German Shepherd's out into the backyard where they run around as fast as they can, chase each other, chase some butterflies and burn up energy before coming in for breakfast. On one particular morning, I noticed that they were hovering near the door and no amount of encouragement was getting them to go play. Later that afternoon the same thing happened! I decided it was time to investigate.

I walked my yard looking for anything suspicious that would cause these two gentle giants to cower in the corner but found nothing. My being in the yard must have given the dogs courage because they quickly joined me, nudging me towards the pile of Frisbee's waiting to be thrown and that's when it happen! Out of her nest, Momma Mockingbird came swooshing down with determination and poked the dogs right in their butts! And it didn't stop there! She called out for a full assault on these poor pups and before I know it there is another Momma coming from the other angle!

This aerial assault went on every time the dogs tried to go outside. The poor things could barely get one paw off the patio and it was on in full force! Now, it did not take long for these smart pups to figure out what was going on and they must have had a secret meeting to plot their counter attack because after a day or two of this rather comical act-they figured out how to bait the birds to chase one of them-so the other could get out to the yard to "take care of business" and then they would switch places! Smart pups indeed!

Our fuzzy friends have long since left the nest...and each morning they can be seen in line on the fence waiting for their turn to pluck a juicy worm from the compost pile or pick at the ripe strawberries. As for the German Shepherd's...they are back to their old games of running around playing and barking at all the new sounds they hear, obviously content to have their space back again...that is until Momma Mockingbird does an occasional fly over just to remind them of who the real protector of the yard is!