Bird Apartment

06/08/2023 47-77F Mostly Sunny&Hazy

Facing my desk window, there was a wall of ivy. My neighbor must be an ivy fan--Since we moved into this house last Autumn, I watched the ivy growing taller and more vigorous and it had completely covered the whole side wall including two windows--Up to this morning.

Birds had built this area their homes. Every morning starting from four to four thirty am, I could hear them chirping. The birds flew in and out busily all day long, thus my husband and I called that ivy "bird apartment".

This morning, two contractors came. They set a ladder and quickly began to remove the ivy. Bit by bit, the ivy and its whole waterfall-like bush was taken apart, and two bird nests exposed at the gutter. I saw one contractor gripping the first nest in arm, looking around as if seeking for help; then he climbed down the ladder. When I came back to my window, both nests were gone, and he was proceeding with his ivy-removal process. 

At noon, when the contractors went for lunch, several birds showed up at the site of their old apartment building. They flew back and forth, sometimes standing on the gutter, sometimes stopping on the remainder of the ivy leaves, looking for their homes and babies. I couldn't see the birds' faces, but from their anxious calls, hasty flaps of wings, I knew they were nervous, worried, and lost.

Suppose a couple went to the market in early morning, while their children were sleeping in the house. When the couple came back several hours later, found their home was completely eliminated and their children gone, what could, and would they do?

It will take some time for these birds to rebuild their new homes, as well as sew up their broken hearts.

But Michael told me that birds had no feelings; they were just confused. If so, I surely will feel better.