Every summer our yard turns into a paradise of birdsong and new life
When the first robin of the year shows up in the yard, we know that spring is finally here
We’ve got just under 10 acres here in Mendenhall (3.68 hectares to be exact). All of the lots out here are between 10 and 25 acres. The story of how we came to purchase it is one for another day, but suffice it to say that we “inherited” a lot of things from the previous owner, Al. He is a great guy but he did some interesting things.
As we understand things, our lot was one of the first to be purchased back when Mendenhall was first surveyed back in 1999. Al is a very talented man. He was a very in-demand driller on oil rigs all over Canada and abroad. He is also a fine carpenter who stick-built both houses in the yard, and the wonderful shop, all of them exceeding code of the day.
Now, if you’ve been for a drive around the subdivision, you will have noticed that just about all of the driveways are designed to hide the structures and property from the road. That’s the way it was for most of the original folks out here. They wanted privacy and to be left alone, so they developed their egress and lots with that in mind.
Not Al! Al was a no-nonsense, git-er-dunn kind of guy. One of the first things he did was to bring in a bulldozer, plow through a perfectly straight driveway and level about seven or eight of the 10 acres of trees.
Some folks out here would kid him about that, saying, “Why would you move out to the bush, then create a massive field?” They figured that he must be a redneck from the prairies. He was pretty straightforward about saying, “Even the slightest breeze blows all of the mosquitoes from my yard over to yours!”
What Al unknowingly created, though, was a massive sanctuary and nesting habitat for wild birds. While there are many species of birds out here, we have two families that migrate back to our yard every summer.
When the first robin of the year shows up in the yard, we know that spring is finally here. That first male hops around the yard for a couple of days on his own, eating bugs and, shortly, the rest of the family shows up to join him. Usually somewhere between eight to 10 of them.
We love to sit out on the porch and watch them hop around, fly up onto something to get a better view and then back into the grass to continue their dinner. They used to nest under the roof of the deck for quite a few years. We’ve seen many babies hatch and get to the point where they fly out of the nest.
Then there are the mud swallows. The mud swallows used to nest under the roof of the carport until they decided that they liked the robins’ digs better. The first year that they tried to encroach on the robins’ area, the robins had already laid their eggs, so they were very aggressive in keeping the mud swallows at bay.
That year, the swallows had to settle for nesting up under the eve of the house, but over the next year or two, they were successful in relocating the robins to nesting in the bush. Probably due to sheer numbers. Usually there are about 25 to 35 swallows that return every summer. Now they nest right under the roof of our deck to hatch their babies.
At first, once the eggs were laid, they would become very aggressive with us if we were out on the deck enjoying some fresh air. Dive bombing us and chirping loudly. Flying straight at us and then veering off at the last minute. It seems, though, that in the last couple of years they’ve grown accustomed to us and don’t bother us at all. We can only assume that is because they were born on the deck and are already aware that we mean them no harm.
It’s really special to sit out in the evening and watch the robins hop-hop-hopping along the ground and to watch the swallows do their aerial acrobatics. The swallows will fly from one end of the yard to the other, gorging on bugs, sometimes coming within a wingtip of each other before changing course and averting a collision. It’s delightful to watch.
So while we might not have quite as much privacy as many of our neighbours, we do have a very unique space created by Al, with a free show all summer—every summer—from our resident feathered friends, right off our deck. And it’s always so nice to welcome them back every year, wondering where they went for the winter and how many babies we’ll get to see hatched this summer.
Soon the fireweed will be in full bloom and start to turn into its cottony seed. About that time, the robins will leave us to begin their southward migration. The swallows will follow suit shortly after and I will know from nature that it’s time to get my yard ready again for the coming winter. Until then, we’ll continue enjoying the show.
