A New Nest Takes Flight

Gazing out the office window of  my suburban Oakland home this week, I noticed a stout pigeon waddling across my neighbor's rooftop. I took pause because it wasn't one of the usual brown-eyed, bushy-tailed squirrels I'd often see scampering across the shingles, the "scratch-scratch" of their sharp nails helping make their presence known. 

Then it dawned on me that this same pigeon must be the culprit behind the Pollockesque white poop splatters that had sullied an area of the garden - the same spot where every morning I sit with my coffee and keep a watchful eye on my cat, Sammy, who enjoys munching on a simple salad of blue fescue. So much for the cat mint I planted for him nearby - a victim of the relentless white poop bombing.

I'd scrubbed the concrete patio and sprayed off the plants (twice!) from the aerial poop bomb attack, only to return later in the week to a freshly blasted mess. Then today I noticed the pigeon again. She was still hanging out atop the neighbor's house, but shortly after I heard her making a racket on my own rooftop. I grabbed my camera and scurried outside, eager to try and capture the pigeon in action.

The back of our home is flanked by two enormous coastal redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) that constantly drop their dried duff onto the yard and into the gutters. The duff has created a forest floor in our garden, providing a protective, nourishing (and free!) layer of mulch for a panoply of acid-loving plants.

I've always felt a sense of security from the 80-foot tall redwoods - as if they were fortresses standing guard, protecting our home. I feel safe in their presence despite the fact that, during rainstorms, they have dropped 50-pound branches onto our deck and, sigh, our neighbor's garden shed. 

The redwoods have also provided security for Poopy the Pigeon. I peered skyward and observed her sifting through the gutter's accumulation of redwood twigs, leaves and cones, pecking for the perfect pieces to help build a nest for her young - to keep her babies safe. Can't hate her for that.