May I Use The Door, Please?

  Three times in the past month, I have had a visitor in the Little Bayou House.  At daybreak, when I wander into the kitchen, I can hear a fluttering in the laundry room.  Mark found my friend the first time and called to me.  "You have a friend visiting!"  Then again a few weeks later and now today, the same friend makes its way to the laundry room at daybreak.  The fluttering alerts me to her presence and I immediately go to greet her.  My friend is a chimney swift.

  The tiny bird nested in the chimney like every other year but this time, she seems to think it is far easier to go down the chimney to the firebox, through the cover and into the laundry room to be let out the back door than to fly back up the full height of the chimney.  Her little ones have fallen from their nest and are at home in the firebox.  Their chittering calls can be heard throughout the house starting at dawn and then quieting at dusk.  Mama Swift obviously sneaks out early to pay us a call.  She flutters against the window until I pick her up.  Then she sits quietly in my hand until I carry her outside and into the middle of the yard.  I talk with her a bit before she decides go about her business of catching insects.  This morning, I was able to open my hand and observe her beauty.  The tiny bird made no struggle to escape but waited for a minute or so before happily going on her way.

  Chimney Swifts nest in "old time brick chimneys".  With the newer metal chimneys being more prevalent nowadays, the birds have lost most of their nesting sites. The habit of most folks of capping their chimneys during the breeding season has also taken a toll on the poor birds. The lack of nesting sites has caused a great decline in the bird population which saddens me.  These little birds eat so many flying insects that losing them will be something we all feel.  Having the swifts nest in our chimney is something that I actually look forward to each summer.  Their high pitched chittering brings back memories of the old farmhouse with its two chimneys.  Both fireplaces would house the swifts and occasionally, then like now, a bird would come into the house.  Usually, Mom would just draw the curtains, turn off the lights and open the door.  The bird would fly out on its own eventually.  My interacting with the bird in the Little Bayou House brightens the day. The bird is none the worse for wear and I get to observe her up close.  She is indeed a beauty!