It's a zoo around here....

It appears that every baby bird born in the past two years has returned to the nest, so to speak. So far, I've counted six bird nests built under our decks and eaves of the house. We have swallows, robins and some bunting-kinda bird that built this amazingly creative nest with straw and plastic bits.

Each year we try to keep the birds from building the nests - but unless you are on 24 hour watch, the birds outwit us every time. And it doesn't help that our policy is that once the birds have eggs in the nest, we admit defeat.

In addition to the bird families, our annual bat family has migrated back to the bat houses we have installed on the sides of our house. Last year we counted about 125 bats. I have a love/hate relationship as I get kinda creeped out by the flying mice, but at the same time, living on a marsh, the bats do their share to keep the mosquitos from carrying me away.
And as a bonus, because I just can't get enough free-loading animals living under my roof, I also willingly foster German Shepherds. Of which I currently have one, Midnight, who will be meeting a potential new family tomorrow.

Seriously, I should look into tax breaks as a nature preserve.