Thought I'd post this to see if anyone has ever had something like this happen them before. I've had this same setup now for quite a few years but this is the first time this has ever happened. At first I thought it was kind of cute. It's so cold out and I saw earlier in the day these birds trying to keep warm. They looked so cold. Next I notice, I go to get some wood and about 4-5 birds fly out of my wood rack. The sun comes out and is shining under the roof, I have the concrete brushed off down to the pavement, the wood rack shields the wind, it is black so it picks up radiant heat from the sun, I guess it makes sense. The concrete also picks up warmth from the sun. Anyway, these birds figured out that this is a great shelter. At first I thought how smart of them. Then I began to notice something. Bird crap all over, My patio and my firewood is now covered with tiny little bird droppings. I don't mean just a few, it's covered out there. I still don't have the heart to shew them away. In fact, I went to the bakery today and I grabbed a bunch of old rolls and I'll throw them out on the back wood pile for them to nibble on tomorrow. I figure the fat will be good for them.
No doubt trying to beat the weather. We also had a strange thing happen here. A squirrel came to the sliding glass door and wanted to come inside. Even with both of us right there, he kept scratching and trying to get in. He finally gave up though.
Dennis, if my wife saw that I'd be scared, she would think hard about letting it in. Andy, great story! Glad you took the time to get some stale bread to feed them with. I'm sort of the same, I put bird feeders out only in the winter. I know once the snow cover comes they will be hungry.
At times some of these birds were jumping up on the steps right next to door. I bet at one point, with the sun strong, there were at least 30 birds, maybe more. You should have seen my dog when she walked up to the door and looked out and an entire flock of birds took off. She barked but the birds must be smart, they flew about 10 feet and like they were attached to a rubber band they came right back where they were. Anyone have any good ideas for removing frozen bird poop? I go get firewood in my socks
Have noticed. Not only do they hunt for bugs for lunch during the day- I've seen mostly wrens and chickadees - small birds If I walk by a stack at night they'll fly out - just like with bushes around the house - sometimes flying into things in their attempt to escape. oops Worse is if they build a nest in the Spring - robins don't seem to always pick a safe place for a nest. That becomes quite a pile of poo. Not surprising some birds never use a nest over again - it's a hazardous waste zone around it .....
More of a reason to stack bark up! Last cold snap I noticed a couple birds that reside in the Mountain Laurels off my patio were clinging to the screen of the kitchen window. They were just watching me in the kitchen. Too cold to invite them in and we were eating chicken which may have offended them anyway.
Today was worse than yesterday. I even had to pick up a dead bird out there. It froze to death right in front of us in about 30 seconds. I quick grabbed a glove and picked it up but it was already gone. Not really sure what I could have done with it anyway had I saved it. If I would have let it go it would have probably died anyway. I also saw a Hawk swoop in and take out one of these birds. Here's a few pictures of what I'm up against. I hope tomorrow is warmer and they leave. I can't deal with this much longer but for today I feel too sorry for them. Especially when they cuddle up next to the door, sometimes 10 or 12 of them trying to find some warmth. My wife says no more keeping wood in the house since it's covered in bird droppings. I moved some to the garage. Guess this weekend when the warm up comes I have a job now.
