DeadpanAnn (old blogger version)

There's a nest of birds in our chimney, sorta. The original fireplace was filled with this furnace thing you see in the picture (below), but there is a space between the outer wall of the furnace and the brick wall of the original fireplace. (We realized this during Hurricane Katrina when water came in through the chimney and built up in the cavity then flooded the living room.) Anyway, the birds' nest is in the space between the furnace and the fireplace, and they chirp all day long.

When we first noticed the sound of flapping wings, we thought there was a bird trapped in the furnace itself. I called both cats into the living room, shut all the doors to the bedrooms and other rooms, and opened the furnace door, expecting a trapped bird to fly out. I eased the door open, and when it creaked both cats took off running like a couple of damn chickens. Not seeing anything in the furnace, I leaned over carefully to look deeper inside. Tim said, "What if it's a bat!?" The thought of being smacked in the face by a disease carrying bat sent chills up my spine and I slammed the furnace door. Thank goodness I have a big, strong man around to handle the creepy things, right??

Later, I checked again. No birds. Then the chirping started and we realized it was a whole nest, and that it's between the furnace and the original wall of the fireplace. At first, I didn't think it would be a big deal. Birds' nest in the chimney. So what. It happens. Tim was sure it was going to be a pain, but you could barely hear them, and I thought it was kinda sweet.

Then they grew, and got louder.

Over the last two days I have spent lots of time sitting right here on the couch in the living room. I'm about 10 feet from the furnace. I go literally days at a time without even setting foot in this room during the school year, but I'm sorta camped out here right now, so I get to hear every sound our guests make. All day long it was chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp! The babies will chirp, then the mother will arrive, flap around in there for a while while the chirping intensifies. Then she leaves again, presumably to find more food, and the babies get quiet for a minute. Then they start again, and here she comes...the cycle continues.

Yesterday Pookie strolled into the room, jumped up onto the couch, and plopped down next to me. He didn't give a thought to the fact that there were birds chirping 8 feet from him, and he chilled out there for a while. Then all of a sudden he jumps up, crouches down, and stalks his way over to the furnace, where he spent the next 6 hours pacing back and forth and clawing at the wall, trying to figure out how to get to the birds.

I got some cute video of it, but I can't get it to upload. Here's a pic of Pookie on guard duty. He's permanently camped out in front of the fireplace now. The birds' nest is located on the right side of the furnace, right behind Pookie.