my mother is a mosaic artist, and she made this beautiful birdhouse for me several years ago. up till now, the only creatures who wanted to live in there have been spiders. Ben joked that if birds ever moved in, they’d find a fully-stocked fridge (assuming they were of the spider-eating variety of bird, i guess).

a few weeks ago we noticed that a pair of birds have actually built a nest inside! they sail back and forth with bits of grass and twigs in their beaks, and will never go inside the house if they think that we are watching, but hop about the branches of a nearby tree and call to one another. when you stand near the bird house you can hear a softer cheep-cheeping, so high pitched it almost seems like crickets. lately there is a ruffle of movement that is audible as well. zeke lays on the porch in the morning sun and chirps back at the parent birds, who scold him relentlessly for getting too close to the nest. the laziest Mighty Hunter that there ever was, zeke seems to hope that if he just lays there long enough, one of the baby birds will fall into his mouth. i think mama bird has the good sense to wait until zeke goes inside for the afternoon.