The Broody Bunch

Raising chickens thus far has definitely been a learning experience.  I’ve not only gained knowledge about chickens but I feel that I’ve also gained insight into the community of “chicken people”.  Those who raise chickens for whatever reason.

Aside from chickens, I’ve learned several things so far this summer.  

For instance, I learned this morning that being pooped on by a snake is STINKY business!  Young Master now has a pet snake that Willhi caught for him.  It’s in a glass tank in the garage.  When I went to the chicken coop this morning I found another garden snake about the same size as Young Master’s snake.  I thought he might like to have two snakes.  So I picked it up and was trying to unwind it from the fence when it pooped.  PHEW!  That was enough for me to drop him.  What a big stink for a little snake!  I had to go wash my hands.

Another tidbit I learned is that we have a large moth in Maine called a Cecropia Moth.  I found it at work and brought it home to identify it.  I’d seen the large, greenish Luna Moth with its golden feather antennae and half moons on its wings.  But this moth, which was similar in size, was red and also had feather antennae and half moons on its wings.  I’d never seen one before.

I’ve learned that I’m afraid of lightning.  Not thunder storms.  Just lightning.  Just when it’s real close.  I’ve seen houses burn flat that were struck by lightning.  We’ve had two major thunder storms this past week.  One night lightning struck a tree across the street from our church and split it in two.   

I’ve learned that a billion is a lot of money.  A trillion must be ever so much more.  God help us.

And I’ve learned that the sun is always shining somewhere even if it’s not shining on you.  Is there such thing as sun envy?

<— This picture shows 1000 tiny beads in the bottom of the tube being held.  The second small tube is nearly full with one million beads.  The third giant tube is nearly full with one billion tiny beads.

I was enjoying a quiet evening reading a fabulous book I borrowed from the library (more on that later), when a strange “thump” came from the window.  Little Maiden’s sun catcher that she made in Sunday School swung mysteriously on the inside of the window.  Immediately I knew that some poor bird had just knocked herself silly on my reflective window!

Sure enough.  When I stepped out on the porch, I saw a tiny bird sprawled upside-down on my porch.  I stooped to see if she was still alive.  I saw that she was breathing rapidly so I gently put my hand out to help her right herself.  As soon as I touched her she flapped and turned over.  She seemed dazed and was holding her beak open to breathe.

I hurried for my camera and started taking pictures.  She was such a pretty little bird and it’s so rare to see one so close.  She was smaller than a chickadee and was mostly gray, white, and black.  But she had a brilliant yellow cap and yellow on her wings that contrasted sharply with her black beak and beady eyes.  She also had a reddish-brown stripe that ran down both sides of her white belly, just under her folded wings.

I wanted to give her the best chance for recovery and I knew the porch was not the best place to leave her.  So I gently nudged my finger under her feet.  She picked up one foot and grasped my finger and then the other foot.  She was holding her left eye closed.  She must have had a monstrous headache in that tiny head!

The bird made no move to fly away so I took her to our flowering crab apple tree.  I tried to place her on a twig but she faltered.  She fluttered and clung to leaves until at last she settled on the tree trunk.

I called my mother for advice.  She’s nursed poor little senseless birds before.  We decided that my little bird would probably be okay.  Ten minutes later she was still on the tree.  Twenty minutes after that she was gone.

Mom and I spent several minutes on the phone trying to determine what kind of bird she was.  Mom’s first guess was a Warbler.  She was right!  By comparing my pictures to others on the internet, I’ve found that my little bird was a Chestnut-sided Warbler.