The strangest thing happened to me this morning. All morning I could hear a bird chirping very loudly. We have a nest up in the eaves of the north side of our building where the deck is so there has been a lot of loud bird chirping activity in the last few weeks. I also have a bird feeder out there which attracts a lot of birds in the morning.
But I was sitting at my computer on the south side of the building with the air conditioner on and I could still hear a bird chirping as if it were in the room. I checked the cat, and while she seemed mildly irritated by the sound, she was sleeping in her usual spot without a care. So I kept working, occassionally getting up to have a look around. As soon as I got up the chirping stopped. As soon as I settled back down in my chair, the chirping started up again. I knew there had to be a bird in here but I couldn't pinpoint the location of it. The accoustics were strange so it sounded like it could be coming from anywhere in the room--or outside even.
Finally I noticed that the cat was up and sculking around the bookcase next to my desk like she was on the hunt. I went over to where she was, reached underneath and sure enough there was a baby bird (a sparrow) under there. It had lots of feathers, and moved around with some strength, but I don't think it is old enough to take care of itself. I held it in my hand while I panicked trying to think of what to do. The cat was following me with a keen look in her eyes, and the bird was squirming in my hand, so I knew I had to get out of here.
I went out into the hallway and started banging the door of my neighbours hoping for some reinforcement. My brother's roommate answered (yes my brother lives in the same building) and he suggested I take the bird to the park across the street. I just couldn't do it though. I felt like if I could keep the bird on the deck that the parents would help it.
 Eventually I made a little nest in a terracotta pot and placed that in my big planter box underneath the tomatoes where it would get some shade. After I left, the little bird started calling and the parents came around in a frenzy. Later, I went out to check and the little bird was out of the pot and hopping around in the planter. I noticed that it had a little bug in it's mouth. So either the parents are feeding it, or it has managed to find some food in the planter box. We seem to have a pretty good range of insects on the deck due to the coriander I let go to seed and other flowering plants that are pollinator attractors. There are also lots of tiny jumping spiders hanging out in the plants so the little bird should be able to find something.
The only problem is that the heat is intense and I need to water that planter. The other problem is that I can't let the cat outside and she gets cranky when she can't do what she wants to do. We don't mockingly call our cat "princess" for nothing. Her real name is Voltron: Defender of the Universe. Her own little universe anyway.
On Sunday we had a similar bird dilemma. One of the baby birds from the nest fell a number of feet down to the fire escape. Davin got on a ladder and put her back into the eaves, but we have no way of knowing if she lived or not. I don't think that today's bird is the same bird. Today's bird has more feathers. This nest seems to be filled with go-getters who all want to be the first out of the nest. Either that or the parents keep shoving them out.
I have no idea how on earth today's little bird got inside. The windows haven't been open since last night. Perhaps the cat brought it in last night. That's odd because usually when she brings something home she makes a big spectacle of it. She tends to just play with the animal rather than kill it, so that could account for why the bird was unharmed. It's all a mystery. I just hope the little bird lives. This kind of thing happens to me every single year. Many of those years have ended in tragedy.
Last year's baby sparrows dilemma.
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Last year my friend gave away lily bulbs