I was working diligently in the yard yesterday afternoon when I heard a succession of taps that could be heard of the music pouring out of my iPhone. Had I been wearing ear buds instead of sharing with the neighbors, I may not have heard. It sounded like knocking and I was curious as to whom or what was interrupting my raking and ivy pulling. A quick visual search of the yard settled my eyes upon the birdhouse I risked my life hanging high in a tree several weeks ago.

  
Eyes fixed upon the little hole in the side of the house, I waited quietly. With bated breath. Yes, a bit dramatic, but there it is. After a few moments, a beaked head protruded through the hole and then an instant later, the rest of the body followed it out and fluttered to the nearest branch almost faster than my eye could catch. That’s not saying much since I was wearing my glasses and they were smudged with dirt. Still, the speed of the bird was impressive.

Could my little birdhouse have found a buyer? Could there be a bird family living in there soon? I think so. I had actually resigned to the fact that I would probably have to wait until next year to have bird neighbors, but I was wrong. I watched as the bird flitted between branches and flew off only to land again bouncing from a branch behind the house to one in front of the house and then quickly entering it again. I’m not quite sure how it fits its body through that hole, but it does.

Birds! In our birdhouse! It was working!! If you build it, they WILL come. Or if you hang it, whatever. I hopped up and down like a 5-year-old on candy and silently clapped (not like a 5-year-old) in celebration. A minute later I wondered if any of my neighbors saw my actions and then shrugged it off. If they were still around after my bout of swearing at the ivy I was pulling then that’s their fault.

Tap-Tap-Tap.

What’s it doing in there? After listening for a short while, my theory is that it was just building a nest. That would make total sense though it did sound more like its hanging pictures. Perhaps that’s where the term “nesting” comes from. I just Googled it. Yeah, that’s about right. Once I’m able to snap a few photos of said bird, I will Google again for identification. I love Google for instant answers; yet miss being able to wonder and debate things for some time. I should just wonder and debate for a time before checking Google, but who has that kind of self-control?

For now, just thinking of birds in that little house makes me smile.