one flew over the..... kitchen cabinet.

Today was a day of marked laziness. A day of coffee, books, couch lounging, and back yard playing with pup. A day of laziness that I was extremely content with. Today was also the first day of my nature study. I've decided that I want to learn everything I possibly can about which birds are singing and the names of the trees where they're performin'. It was while reading my first edition of Words for Birds that it happened. Nature quite literally came right through the back door.

I lay on the couch, reading and listening to outside sounds. Bailey lay beside me in front of the back door, also content with the slow pace of our morning. His favorite spot is right in front of the tear in our screen door. That small tear has been there since the day we moved in and it was never something that seemed to demand immediate attention.... until today. It was by this very tear that Bailey lay. And it was through this very tear that a small bird decided to enter and wreck havoc on our morning. I identified the tiny menace as a very common House Wren:

I quickly became more concerned for its safety rather than for my home's. My new tiny friend was crazily attempting a smooth escape, but was failing miserably. Crashing into window, cabinets, mirrors, and landscape paintings, I was terrified he would hurt himself badly. With all the commotion, Bailey, being the vicious animal that he is, merely gave the wren a confused look and continued to doze. I attempted quite a few different variations of catch and release, and failed as miserably as the bird. So, having exhausted every possible option, I did the only other thing there was to do. I called darling.

After a frantic phone call, I locked the wren in our guest room and waited. The wren made himself quite comfortable during this time on our clothes rack that was heavily laden with soggy garments. After five somewhat nervous minutes wait, babe swooped in (excuse the pun) and saved the day. He handled the situation much more calmly using the broom herding method, and my new friend flew out as easily as he'd flown in.

We commemorated the day's adventure with a family lunch of Taco Bell, and my new book seemed a much more interesting read that afternoon. I also made Bailey a new doggie door to prevent any further damage to small, daring wrens.