A few weeks ago we were shocked when the kids noticed a bird in our fireplace. We tried to grab it, but unfortunately it flew through a small gap in the screen as we were trying to catch it. The bird flew around the house for a minute, then when I opened the front door, it flew into the glass door, fell on the floor and I was able to get the door open just in time for it to hop out and fly away before Kisca got ahold of it.
Today as the kids and I were working on some reading, we heard the familiar sound of wings flapping wildly in the chimney. I called Jeff at work and he said he'd be home for lunch to see if he could get it out. After a while I didn't hear it anymore so I assumed the bird had found its way back out. I called Jeff back and cancelled the request.
About 2 hours later, I heard the bird again. I called Jeff back but he couldn't get away from work so he just said he'd take care of it when he got home. I never saw the bird, so I knew it was up higher in the chimney. Finally the bird dropped down into the main part of the fireplace and frantically tried to get out of the screen. This obviously got the cats' attention. They were both right there keeping a close eye on this strange toy while ocassionally batting at the glass, sending the bird into a frenzy. After about 2 hours of that, I got tired of hearing all the noise so I went into the garage and got my gardening gloves.
I opened the doors only far enough to squeeze my arm through. I had the screen pulled tight with my other hand. Suddenly the bird found out that the other side of the screen had a gap and tried to fly through. I hurried and slammed the door (and my arm). I got situated again and was finally able to pin the bird against the mesh. As I grabbed it, it let out a very loud screach. I realized that the bird had a death grip on the mesh. Bug grabbed a pencil so I could try to pry the claws off the mesh, but just then I heard Jeff pull in the driveway so he was able to free its claws.
The kids were thrilled that I was able to catch the bird. We all took a good look at the beauty of this bird. I had planned to take a picture, but in all the excitement, I forgot. Sorry. I did get some while it was still in the fireplace, but with the glare from the flash on the glass, it's not really worth showing. Anyhow, I took the bird outside and tossed it into the air in hopes that it wont be back to visit.
I'm still not sure how these birds keep getting in since we do have chicken wire surrounding the chimney. Jeff will be getting up there to inspect it and see if maybe they've created a gap or something. And also to make sure there's no bird nests that will catch on fire when we use the fireplace in the next couple months. If you're still reading, congratulations. I didn't mean to write a novel. Just sort of happened!
That's Tom standing next to him, looking all grown up!
