Determined but daft?

A blackbird with an astonishingly stubborn and persistent nature began to make a nest in our outside back porch. She chose a ledge about five inches wide and attempted to put on it an array of long twigs, pieces of plastic, moss and varied other acquisitions from the garden compost heap. They fell of this precarious ledge every time and I had a mess to sweep up every morning.

‘Did you try talking to her?’ one of my friends asked. I did try, telling her in no uncertain terms that she was clueless and foolish. But as they assure us that the blackbird we have in the garden right now probably came from Norway in the winter and would move further south as winter approached one more, it was evident she didn’t understand a word of English. She ignored me and carried on making the demented effort to get this mess to stick on the ledge. We joked that she must be a teenager who had no notion how to set about home-making. She was certainly stroppy and stubborn.

And she did it! Eventually she managed to get a little nest . . . bit of a mess but still . . . to stick on that tiny ledge. And now she is sitting up there for hours on end. I’m in deep admiration at her determination. She’s some girl.

We still don’t know if there’s any eggs laid. But as she now spends most of the day there, we’re assuming she’s got something going. It amazes me how still she sits for hours on end, leaving very occasionally to eat and drink. I feel a bit sorry for her. It’s lovely in the garden and there she is, stuck up in a dark corner of our porch, sitting in an almost Zen like meditation on …well, on something. We dare not look, she is so sweet, and we don’t wish to disturb this almost holy act of creation. So we creep round through the French windows and take care to make no startling noises while having to use cupboards out there as they contain things we use daily. Bottles of wine for instance.

My worry is now that, if the eggs do hatch, how will it manage to contain three infants on that precarious ledge? I have a feeling it’s going to end badly. But we haven’t the heart to move her away. Nature has to go its way whatever the costs. At least she’ll feel she’s fulfilled her urge.