Strangeness
There was a little ripple of strangeness here at the Manor during the week.
Strangeness is when something rather unusual happens such as trying to phone someone you haven't spoken to in years only to find their phone is engaged because they are trying to phone you. Or it might be a little whirlwind that appears on the lawn and then vanishes for no reason.
I was sitting here last Wednesday. It was hot and humid so I had the doors open beside me. Next thing, a wren flew in giving a loud whistle.
Birds smack themselves off the windows here at a fierce rate. Some break their necks which is sad, while others sit for a while wondering what the fuck just happened, but most just carry on as if flying into an invisible barrier is just part of life. However I can only remember two occasions in the last thirty or so years where a bird actually flew into the house. One was a robin that went rigid with fright and had to be gently carried out, while the other was a sparrow that flew in through a roof light and was a right bugger to get out.
So I was more that surprised when the wren flew in. He did a victory lap of the room and shot out the doors again. But on his way out, he passed another wren who was flying in. That one flew to the far side of the room and disappeared behind the television. I went in search of him but couldn't find him anywhere. There wasn't a sight nor a sound, nor even a chirp. In the end, I decided he has sneaked out when I wasn't looking so I gave up. About half an hour later there was a loud whistle and he shot from behind a cupboard, did a lap of the room and shot out the door. So in thirty years we have two birds fly in, and suddenly two more fly in in the same day.
Thursday was hotter and stickier, and I was sitting here with the doors and the window behind me wide open. Next thing I heard a wren cheep behind me. Aha I thinks to myself. The little bugger has learned his lesson and is staying outside. But no.. the next thing he flew across my shoulder, did two laps of the room and shot out the door.
Three visits in two days? And I must point out that the wren isn't a particularly common bird in these parts. Strangeness indeed?
I did a little research. Apparently the wren is vilified by Christians but venerated by Pagans. I have a soft spot for wrens so I suppose that makes me a Pagan? It fits nicely with some of my philosophies anyway.
Also a bird flying into the house is supposed to be good luck. But it's also supposed to be a portent of death. So after three visits I'm in for some massive good luck before I die [three times] within days.
It's lucky I'm not superstitious.
Touch wood.
If you were a Buddhist then the wren could be an incarnation of Sandy just checking you were looking after his place. Who knows he might even have been paying you a call but those encounters can be called strange in my book.
That is a nice thought, but I would be more inclined to believe that Sandy influenced our choice of Penny. Sandy was always very gentle with any bird that whacked off a window [she used to mind them and nudge them gently until they recovered] so maybe you do have a point
Apologies for getting Sany's gender wrong. Memory and all that.
As is my want here is a most interesting in truth mind boggling Youtube link to something that happened on Wednesday last.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjXbvBmc-6U&list=UU-JHXzYYZJKrupkg0A1fQ2g
Basically around 300 people gathered to prevent an eviction and bugger me the bailiffs never turned up!
And then yesterday there was this update where it seems the bank has 'made a mistake' and is no longer pursuing the eviction and will compensate Tom the 'potential evictee' and his wife
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICW8qvjhLKY&list=UU-JHXzYYZJKrupkg0A1fQ2g
No problem about Sandy. She never took offence at anything in her entire life.
I have trouble keeping swifts and martins out of the house once they arrive here from Africa or wherever! They seem to find us irresistable when hunting for somewhere to nest. Don't get me wrong, I love to see them and the swallows flying round and dipping into the pool but sharing the house with them is a bit messy once the chicks arrive!!
The worst creature I ever had to get out was a bat. In the end we got a sheet and closed the room down with it driving the bat out of the open window it had been ignoring while swooping round the room. I don't think its sonar was working properly.
The problem with swifts and martins is [and correct me if I'm wrong] they want to return to the same nest each summer. So if they have mede their way in one, they'll attempt to get in every year after.
The last time we were in France, the house we stayed in had a swallow's nest in the living room [it was a very high ceiling] and the owner had to leave the rooflight open each summer so they could return to the nest. Strangely enough, they never seemed to leave any mess.
Hah!! Just found a photograph of it
The last house I had in UK was a 400 year old costwold stone house with a huge fireplace, and we would quite regularly get blackbirds coming down the chimney in the summer. A right bloody mess they made, too, bringing lots of soot down with them (we used to burn wood in there during the winter). Then. of course, the fun and games would start trying to catch them so we could put them back outside.
One summer I was in the conservatory with the doors wide open, and a young kitten we had recently acquired came racing in at about a hundred miles an hour and scooted under the chest of drawers. In hot pursuit was a kestrel, who, once inside the conservatory of course couldn't find his way out. Cue another bird-catching episode, this time wearing thick gardening gloves. I caught him eventually, and even have a photo of me holding him, glaring fiercely and looking thoroughly predatory and pissed off, before I took him out and released him.
Birds in the house were a regular event where we were in the Cotswolds.
That is a sight I would love to have seen!
We have a huge range of birds here. Wrens, sparrows, pigeons, doves, crows, rooks, hawks, jays, tits [*snigger*], finches, blackbirds, thrushes and the odd visit from a heron. And that's only the start of the list. It's one of the many things I love about this place but as I said above, they rarely venture indoors.
"But it's also supposed to be a portent of death."
I believe that only applies to owls, not other birds. But you might want to keep an eye out for dwarves what with all the birds returning to the mountain (to your house no less). You don't happen to have a dwarvish rune inscribed at the bottom of your door do you?