Years ago, a pair of Robins built their nest right inside my porch about 3 feet from my front door on top of a pillar. I first noticed all kinds of nesting material and bird excrement before seeing the actual nest. It was partially built so we gave the family room to grow. For weeks we gingerly opened and closed the door to leave. We would not let our dog out through the front door and quiet was the word of the month! I felt like I was walking on eggshells-forgive the pun, I couldn’t help it.
Soon the chicks hatched, the new family was loud and proud. One day when I came home, I saw a dead chick (very underdeveloped) on my front porch. It was a sad thing to see. I made sure that when all the other Robins fledged, I put something up to block future nests.
It was hard to find something that would fit the space and not look sloppy. I couldn’t find a small owl statue so I settled on an eight-inch gargoyle, they are pretty scary. I bought one for my front porch and one for my upstairs deck (just in case). For years, the Robins and other birds found alternate accommodations, and all was well in the Ippolito household.
One night we had a bad storm with whipping winds that were almost tornado-like. Lots of rain and knocked down trees and branches everywhere. My downstairs gargoyle did not survive the storm – it was busted into small pieces on the ground. Not having anything else I crumpled up a large white plastic bag and put it in the spot.
Ya, that didn’t work for very long. By early spring I saw the makings of a new nest…here we go again. This time it is a House Finch. She has at least three hatchlings -- who by the way are growing quickly. I can always tell when it’s feeding time as the noise is amplified on my porch. I am careful not to go in and out of the front door as much as possible and I am giving them their space, but I have already bought a new Bluebird statue for the “nesting spot”.