It’s definitely fall. Bins of bright orange pumpkins and warty gourds are turning the vegetable market into a colorful work of art, the maple tree in our front yard is spitting spinners and the berries on our mountain ash tree are fermenting. Autumn has arrived in a glory all it’s own.
Our yard is playing host to a seasonal kegger for birds. Robins are wobbling during their flight from the mountain ash tree toward the living room window and the starlings are cheering them on. This is an annual occurrence at our house and every year the story’s the same – it’s all fun and games until somebody hits the glass.
I love a party as much as the next girl – my years of tying one on may be behind me but I remember the fun and temptation. These festive feathered friends in the front yard have obviously not learned any lessons, yet – they are whooping it up in the berry laden branches of the tree as brittle leaves fall. The red berries littering the ground beneath the tree have been crushed by boots and tires – our driveway looks like a crime scene.
I hate the thump of feathered friend on glass – it makes my heart stop every time. The dogs bark and I make a dash for the front door to see if I can offer first aid to the stunned party-goer. The fortunate drunks, who have been relaxed when they hit the window, merely need a moment to gather their wits and shake it off. The unfortunate ones are, well…. unfortunate, and I curse the tree and the berries.
We have a couple of fatalities every year. I think part of the problem is the reflection of trees in the window. Added to the impaired judgement of over indulgence, the reflection probably looks like a short cut to the backyard. Birds blissfully winging their way home before curfew get a rude awakening when they try to shave a second or two off their trip.
I’ve tried various things over the years to re-route the birds. Once I hung a Canadian flag from the beam of the deck – the party-goers still flapped a path to the glass. The next year I taped the flag to the window with hardly a noted change to their course. This year I’ve covered the window in a paste type glass cleaner. From inside the house the world looks like it’s in a fog – which is probably not much different than the birds eye view on the outside, after a berry or two.
The birds are hitting the berries hard this year; the tree has produced a bumper crop – more berries, more merriment. I’m hoping my latest precautionary measure saves them from hitting the window with the same gusto. If not, next year it could be the tree that takes the hit.