Wednesday, July 4, 2012

"Accessory to Independence Day Murder"

I carried my coffee, a lemon teacake, and some cherries outside to enjoy the peaceful, quiet morning.
 I looked up and saw that the barn swallow nest was mostly on the ground.
 I thought, "Okay, maybe they finally understood that this is not a good place for their nest."
However, I couldn't ever remember hearing of barn swallows tearing down their nests.

Then the door closed, and I saw this:
Definitely  not the kind of feathers everywhere I want to be seeing!
As I was cleaning up the sad mess, one of the swallows swooped in angrily.  However, I didn't commit the murder. I'm guessing the culprits were....
...or their siblings, or aunts and uncles.

I also now know why the Nanching cherry tree is still loaded instead of decimated by the birds.
I'd seen some of the feral cats my neighbor feeds up on her 8 ft wall.  So now I understand how one of those cats was able to leap at the swallow's nest and knock down it down and leave the mess behind.  While I was outside, one of the cats captured a bird that was sitting in the cherry trees.  I sooooo wish my neighbor would stop feeding those cats!  I love sweet cats when they are pets, but I do not like them when they are wild and prey on birds--especially when they are being fed and don't need to prey!  (Yes, "cycle of life." I grew up on a farm and understand that--and it's much easier for me to accept when their purpose it to prey on the rats that like to come to the barns and cribs.--I don't like it when they prey on birds, and wonder if that's why I've been hearing less birdsong. Besides, every single one of our barn cats were also our pets.)

Okay, enough of the Independence Day Murder.  I'm going to go make a bit of pasta salad to enjoy later--along with more bright red cherries!

Happy family and friend gatherings.....and happy quiltmaking to those able to enjoy some of that today as well.......

4 comments:

Kate Brown said...

That is just sad :( Maybe she needs to feed the cats more so they get fat and lazy and leave the birds alone. Maybe spay and nueter too so they will live their life out without producing more. I am a cat lover but think if you are taking care of feral cats you need to do the whole thing. Not letting them hunt the neighbors birds would be a good thing! LOL I am sure I said enough here but I am sympathizing with you.

Pokey said...

That is sad to hear. Our last beloved dog Jezzy once downed a bird in front of me, and I really scolded her! From that time on, she never bothered the birds. They would even swoop in and eat from her dish in front of her, and she would turn her head. She was a special doggy ~
:-}pokey

Kristie said...

Oh no! I catch our cat sitting by the birdfeeder just waiting and I have to shew him away. BTW...pasta salad sounds good right now.
Kristie

lw said...

Might be time to get yourself a jack russell terrier. Then you will not have any cats in your yard.

The birds can be kept from the trees by hanging blank CDs. The flickering light resembles a bird of prey coming at them, so if there's any breeze at all, you'll get some cherries. I'm hoping my homeowner's association doesn't get upset when I hang CDs in the fruit trees in my front yard.

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