Birds in a tube
This is in the new and true story group. After living a long life around here, it’s easy to think I’ve seen it all, yet whenever I do that, something new comes along.
A few weeks ago, I noticed that when I approached our mail and paper box array, a bird would fly out from somewhere. Upon investigating, we discovered it came out of the Westside News paper delivery tube. Reaching in, we discovered a nest at the very back of the tube. It should be noted that I had blocked the back of the tube to keep the paper from falling out, which it sometimes did. After that, we made it a point to be quiet when retrieving the paper. Well, that was a new one for me after all the years of receiving both the daily and weekly papers.
One could imagine that it was a modern young bird couple that didn’t agree with the old folks who always built a nest in a tree or shrub. The location they chose was quite weatherproof. My concern, however, was that when the fledglings were ready to leave the nest, there was only one way out, and that was directly above the shoulder of the road, not a good landing spot for a baby bird.
In a week or so, I peeked in and saw a chick lift up its head with its mouth open so that Mom could slip food into it. There apparently was only one chick.
After another week or so, I felt it best to remove the plug from the back of the tube. Upon doing that, a chubby chick tumbled out, flapped its little wings, and landed about three feet away on the lawn. When I tried to pick it up, it made such a fuss that Mom and Dad immediately buzzed around my head. Not wanting to arouse them more, I went back into our house. Neither the fledgling nor the parents were ever seen around there again, so I had to be content with feeling I had done the best I could for the bird family. Happy Flights!!
