The Baby Bird Incident – Part I

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“Nestled in your wings, my little one / Is special, morning brings another sun
Tomorrow, see the things that never come today”

Lyrics from “Bird” by Neil Young

Spring ushered an assortment of songbirds into the yard in multitudes this year. I don’t recall ever seeing as many house finches, bells vireos, house wrens, and those loudmouth crows congregating in the trees. An especially rare treat is the beautiful blue bird couple that visit every day, who enjoy the birdbaths and sunning on tree branches.

Photo courtesy of John Ford.

Photo courtesy of John Ford.

The songbirds’ melodic chirps and twitters begin just before dawn, followed by a mocking bird whose ongoing cacophony of vocalizations last into the evening. While perched on a telephone pole next to the cottage, the mockingbird moves to its avian hip-hop vocals, springing upwards in time with feather-spreading motions, like a pogo stick with wings. I cracked up the first time I saw his flamboyant performance. He got Samantha Jo’s attention while she was perched on the windowsill to the catio curiously staring at his antics.

For a couple of weeks, I watched a finch couple flitting from trees to the eaves above the living room windows. I suspected they were making a nest, and my suspicions were confirmed when I spied the female nestling in the eaves and the male perched in the near-by tree, seemingly on guard. A baby bird was on its way! For days the female routinely flew into the eaves where I would see her hunkered down in the nest. Then one day, I heard the sweet peeps of a baby bird. I wanted to get up onto my stepladder to get a glimpse of the hatchling, but on second thought, didn’t want to disturb the nest. Samantha also wanted to get a look—or get a hold of it.

Remnants of the nest in the upper right corner of the eaves above the window, and where Samantha perched with a close eye on the nest.

She perched on the porch railing that joined at the siding of the house, a straight shot below the nest then stretched upwards with all her might, clawing at the siding, but she was unable to reach the eaves. Her presence was disturbing the parents, who would come flying towards the nest, see Samantha then redirect their route back to the tree, waiting for her to leave. I put a potted succulent in Samantha’s perching spot, which kept her at bay…until it didn’t.

* * *

I was at my computer when I heard loud clattering coming from outside the living room window. I looked over my shoulder to see Samantha’s torso hanging in the window, front legs straight upward, hind legs and tail dangling. This sight only lasted for a moment as she quickly came crashing down, landing in the potted plants below the window. I rushed out to find her crawling up onto the porch, okay, but startled.

“Samantha! What the hell…?”

I looked up towards the eaves pondering what I just witnessed. I deduced that in her determination to get to that nest, she leapt upward with enough force to latch onto the edge of the eaves for two seconds before she lost her grip. I promptly lined the porch railing leading to the siding of the house with potted plants.

The baby bird, once again was safe from the beast.

But wait…there’s more! Cat lady turns into guardian of the baby bird.
I’ll be back in a couple of weeks. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Cats and Coworkers

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It was another hectic morning at work when my computer mouse suddenly stopped working. After a battery change resulted in still no connection, I rebooted. The computer began an update that continued for several minutes. Something didn’t seem right. I called Tai, one of our IT specialists. He came to the rescue, informing me that this particular update may take a while.

Tai wanted to be sure the computer got back on track without any issues. As we waited for the update to finish, Tai launched into a story (knowing I love cats) about an unexpected kitten rescue.

In September 2025, Tai was heading out on his early morning walk with his German shepherd/husky mix, Kira. As he passed by his car in the driveway, Tai heard frantic meows coming from what seemed to be under the car. Kira made a beeline for the motor where Tai saw the face of a meowing kitten. He attempted to retrieve the kitten, but couldn’t get to the place in the motor where the kitten was located. Tai needed to continue walking Kira, but consumed with worry about the kitten, he texted his wife an urgent message: DO NOT DRIVE THE CAR WHATEVER YOU DO and explained why.

As Tai told the story, he emphatically affirmed that he is not a cat person. He’s a dog person—his entire family are dog people. They love all animals, but—they’re dog people. Because of his love for animals, he wanted to get the kitten out of a dangerous situation. When Tai returned from his walk about 45 minutes later, the kitten was no longer in the motor, but two kittens were in his back yard; one was the kitten from the motor

His wife had first found them, cold, trembling and crying as Tai describes. It was unknown how the kittens ended up in the back yard, but they appeared to be siblings. Tai explained that he lives in a neighborhood with many stray cats that are fed by folks in the neighborhood, and believes a stray cat that frequently came into their yard (and still does) is the mother of these kittens.

He thought about calling animal control and ran the idea by his son, Tyler, who advised do not, they’ll be euthanized. Tyler was at work, but rushed home to take the kittens to the vet. After the exam, the vet reported their estimated age at 3 to 4 weeks. They were treated for fleas, a viral infection as one had very runny eyes, but were overall in good health.

With a little encouragement from Tyler, the kittens found a home with Tai and his family. They named the female tortoiseshell Mimi and the male kitten Momo, who’ve become an integral part of the family. Kira’s the dotting mama to the kittens, always watching over and snuggling with them. As Tai passionately shared the story, it was clear that he and his family had become completely smitten with these kittens.

You don’t always know who in your circle of coworkers loves cats. It could be that savvy IT guy who was once only a dog person.

Tai believes these cats who frequently vist are Mimi and Momo’s parents.

That Darn Cat – Part II

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Sergio’s stalking has continued. Recently, I was heading to the office when he appeared at the front door crying and pawing on the glass. I couldn’t open the door for fear of him getting into the house or Samantha getting out. I called John who was able to come over and chase him away by squirting him with the hose. These episodes have become routine.

I called Animal Control and the officer explained there was nothing they could do unless the cat hurt me, Samantha or did damage to the property. After another morning of his persistent pursuit of trying to get into the cottage, I called Animal Control again, asking what else was possible in the situation of a negligent owner letting an unneutered cat wander the neighborhood at all hours, trespassing and terrorizing. John installed motion-sensor cameras, which detected him on the roof at 1:00 am; another night, he woke me at 11:00 pm, yowling at the side door, then noisily prowled the yard for an hour.

Sergio at the side door during the day, which happens frequently. I’ve learned to block the French door so he can’t see inside.

The officer said the owner could be cited at this point, only the owner is unknown to me. Not helpful. He said the next time Sergio appears, rather than chasing him off, draw all drapes to prevent him from being able to see inside and Samantha from seeing out. He explained that the cat seems to need attention and negative attention is better than no attention. If we don’t offer interaction and ignore him, eventually he should stop stalking us. That was two weeks ago.

He was here in the rain a couple of days ago.

Yet, he’s not been abandoned. When his collar had a tag a couple months back, a neighbor found him in her courtyard late one night and managed to get the number off the tag (mentioned in Part I). I reached out to her for the number. I sent a text to the number from the tag explaining the situation and suggesting Sergio get neutered and be kept inside. A person named Margarita responded to my text with a voicemail, apologizing for what I was dealing with and understood my frustration, and said she would provide me with Sergio’s mom’s contact information so that we could discuss the matter. She explained that “we” just got Sergio neutered. I never received the contact information for Sergio’s so-called mom, and when I called back after another stressful episode, it seems my number has been blocked. I also texted, and never got a response.

I feel sorry for Sergio, yet I’m furious and frustrated with the situation; mostly at these irresponsible “owners.” My heart hurts when Samantha gets anxious and I worry for her health. I wish someone would just take him in. But I can’t rely on wishes.

 

Over the weekend I learned he’s been terrorizing a gal next door and her two cats. He’s ripped her screen—twice. I told her to call Animal Control about Cujo the cat.

To be continued…