The perennial battle for patio supremacy has been joined. The spring-summer contretemps with nature over exactly who has ownership rights to our retractable awning has begun anew.
Each year as spring beckons I find myself engaged in a continuous pas de deux with sparrows over their nesting habitats. The birds prefer the corners of our awning superstructure, directly above the doors at each end of our side patio. I prefer they find different locations.
Daily I clear away their nests. Eviction is necessary before they get too comfortable and lay eggs.
Don’t bother suggesting I deploy metal spikes that claim to keep birds away. I installed them two years ago. They don’t work. They just make it more difficult to weed out the nests as the birds pack in bits of shrubbery in the spaces between the spikes.
Perhaps spikes are useful to keep pigeons from roosting, but they are useless when dealing with sparrows.
At a wedding in New Jersey last Sunday overlooking lower Manhattan, instead of concentrating sufficiently on the ceremony my attention was drawn to a pair of sparrows at the window directly above the ceremonial canopy. Two sparrows were building a nest among the spikes intended to keep them away from the venue’s windows.
I’ve sought relief from the company that installed our awning, but as the installer noted, it is difficult to control the nesting instincts of birds when your yard invites their presence with feeders and bird baths.
Three times over the last few weeks I treated the backyard birds to international treats: biscotti, Hamantaschen, and good old American chocolate chip cookies. Let’s call it a culinary experiment. Which delicacy would the birds prefer?
My unscientific experiment found biscotti to be their clear favorite. They swarmed the feeding tray, feverishly pecking away at the Italian cookies. Next in favor—chocolate chip. More than a day passed, on the other hand, before the feathered gang pecked and gobbled up the Hamantaschen (just the crusty dough, the fruit center having been removed).
Earlier this week I removed several feet of spikes from the corners of our awning superstructure. The birds have tried to form nests, but without the spikes I have an easier time clearing out their construction. I’m not proud of denying them squatting rights, but at least I am providing food and water for them.
Mileage Update: It’s been five months since I started driving a plug-in hybrid car, a Ford Escape. I’ve logged 2,944 miles. I am averaging 116 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent). For my last gas tank refill I recorded 177.5 MPGe. Not bad.
The plug-in hybrid qualified for a federal tax credit of $6,873. Not bad, indeed!
