New Neighbor

 

   I was working in the kitchen when I heard the back doorbell ring. I peeked out the open window. There was no one there. The only thing I saw was a female robin standing on the handle on the grill near the door. I went back to my work. The door bell rang again. I looked and saw only the robin sitting there. I opened the door and looked at the robin. 

  "Did you ring my doorbell?" I asked.

   The robin looked at me and said, "Yes".

   I was taken aback. I was not expecting a robin to speak to me. 

   "I thought I should introduce myself since we are going to be neighbors for a bit," the robin said.

   I looked confused.

   "I live in the nest over your deck light," she explained.

    Now it made sense. "Welcome to the yard," I told her. "My name is Sophie."

   "I'm Pauline," she said. "I'm curious, why did you tear down the other nests that we built?"

    I felt a little sheepish. I explained to her that we had a bird nest over our light before and that the nest made a mess on the siding and on the light. We were afraid to turn the light on because we didn't want to harm the birds or the eggs. She looked at me and listened intently. I told her we liked to use our deck in the summer and that it seemed to disturb the birds. 

   "I can understand that, " she said. 

    "We have so many nice trees in our yard. Wouldn't those be better places to build your nest?" I asked.  

   "Yes, your trees are very nice, but there are animals that can climb those trees," Pauline said.  "Also your roof provides protection from the hot sun and rain. Tree leaves are good, but your roof is much better." 

  "I'm glad to share it with you," I said. "Why did you build a nest on the lower shelf of our grilling table?"

   Pauline twittered. "That was Fred's idea." 

   "Fred?"

   "Fred is my mate," Pauline explained. "He was worried about the hatchlings falling out of the nest. I told him it was not a safe spot, but he insisted on building anyway," She continued, "It was nice of your mate to put those chairs around the nest to try to hide it." 

  "He wanted to help, " I said. "We'll stop using that door near your nest until the babies start flying on their own. We will be using the grill, but we will move it away from the nest and will try to keep the smoke from coming your direction. I like to sit on the deck during the day. Don't feel like you need to move from the nest. I won't disturb it."

   "It's instinct," she said. "Besides that I have to stretch my wings sometimes."

   "I have to get back inside and finish my cleaning, " I said. "Thank you for coming to talk to me. It's nice getting to know you."

   "You're welcome," Pauline said. "I really should get back to the nest. Thank you again for sharing your roof."

   I went back inside and turned around to look out the screen door. There was Pauline sitting on her nest facing the door. Did I really just have a conversation with a bird? I looked at her. She winked. 

   Yes, I guess I did......