cellini's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Birds Some stupid fucking bird made a nest in the workshop. I think it's probably a Carolina wren. When I first saw it I thought it was a mouse's nest, since it is domed on top and fully enclosed this was a plausible explanation. It was built right on top of thirty dollars worth of nails inside of a cardboard box which is about 6 inches by 6 inches in it's footprint and perhaps 12 inches tall. The box was on the floor under my workbench, which was such a stupid place for a bird's nest that I thought it had to be a mouse. Since I'd wanted to rearrange things in there anyway, I moved the work bench and everything else away from that spot and left the box in the opening. The idea being that mice want good cover with which to approach their nest and that this way any babies inside would get moved to a more suitable place outside during the night. Instead, I was greeted by a spooked bird as I stepped into the workshop right at dusk last night. It looked like either a Berwick's wren or a Carolina wren and the nest type would be consistent with either. But Berwick's wrens are now very rarely found in this part of the country so I'm going with it being a Carolina wren. I say that the bird is fucking stupid because putting a nest right on the floor like that is just asking for a snake or whatever to come along and raid it. This whole place is thick with predators of every description. I will say that now that I've got the trap door opening in the floor covered up again, it is actually pretty hard for any non-flying predator to get into the workshop. This building is on stilts about 4 feet off of the ground. Especially when the front door is closed, it would be very difficult if not impossible for any of the local snakes to get in here, even with that one downstairs window still not installed. However, the bird had no idea that I was going to close up that trap door and install the front door when he built the nest. So he's still a fucking idiot. I want my workshop to be my own, so some sort of action is in order. The problem is that every time I walk in there I'm going to end up spooking the mother bird off of her nest. Especially when I walk in after dark and turn the light on. This could mean that the eggs or babies go all night without the parents there and they die of the cold. Most bird eggs need frequent laying on or else they die. Bottom line is that I've got to move the nest. Here's my plan. The box is right next to the front door already. Today after work I will place the box on top of a chair. Then tomorrow I will put it a little higher than that. And then on Friday I will build a little shelf on the outside of the building, just around the corner, where I will place the box. It will be under the overhang of the roof, which has a tarp over it and will keep the box and the nest dry. Probably I will also dab a bit of construction adhesive on the bottom of the box as well so that the wind doesn't blow it down. Then as soon as those babies are fledged, I'm knocking it all down and taking my fucking nails back. Otherwise they'll try to bring off another clutch in the same nest and I really don't care to keep dealing with this. Meanwhile the phoebes that nested on the front porch last year are in full swing again. They built another nest first, thought better of it, then rebuilt the old one. Now I'm pretty sure that there are eggs in it since 'the mummy bird' is constantly sitting in the nest. She usually doesn't get spooked off by me anymore when I go in or out. It must be that whole business with the snakes last year. They trust me now. Oh, when I was out at Anna's place over the weekend I noticed that she had a willow tree and I asked her if I could take some clippings. I've got 4 or 5 of them that I'm rooting in soil now. Willow cuttings root very, very readily. I've got this area in the lower meadow where lots of water always pools up after a rain and sits there for weeks, allowing mosquitoes to breed. It seems to me that the simplest possible way of dealing with the problem would be to plant a few willow trees, which positively devour water. Literally, if you plant them too close to your house then they will often push roots straight into your water drainage or supply pipes. In this climate, no plant so readily wipes out a marshy spot as a willow does. Also, I just like willow trees. They are the first trees to leaf out in the spring. Willow is useful for lots of things besides. You can get aspirin from the cambium layer of the bark. The thin branches can be used to make wicker objects and baskets, also for wattle-and-daub construction of walls within a timber framed structure. The wood is useful for carving and cutting into various objects and sometimes furniture. It also makes excellent charcoal - particularly if one is going to make gunpowder. You get a very fast-burning gunpowder when you use willow charcoal to make it. Trish's father and I have talked about trying our hand at making a few pounds of gun powder some time, mostly just for the sake of having the skill for bragging rights and for keeping our black powder rifles working if 'the shit hits the fan' some day. Trish is now in agreement with me about moving the site for the new house to the highest point on the property, that being in the middle of the upper meadow. There are a lot of reasons why this is a good idea, but one thing I am glad of is that I won't have to cut down that lovely little copse of aspens that stands in the spot originally slated for the new construction. Aspen is a very useful wood to have around and I would like that stand of it to get large enough that I can selectively harvest a few poles each year. It grows ramrod straight and it does so very quickly. It's a soft wood but still has it's uses. I would like about a quarter acre of aspens. It's about the only tree I can grow on that small a patch of land and be able to harvest usable lumber each and every year without running out of trees. 11:49 - 2008-06-03 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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