To let ...

The birdhouse is up, awaiting tenants.

This will be its 4th or 5th season. Each year a pair of chickadees has successfully raised a brood. Occasionally I've managed to see a fledgling make that long, scary first flight, from the box to the nearest tree. It's a rare treat to see this happen - more often I'll glimpse a young bird poking its head out of the box, then the next day I'll sudenly realize there is no more chatter from the nest - everyone has gone.

Once a fledgling landed on the deck, on a rainy day. For a few minutes it sat, looking miserable, but soon found its way under the railing and into the air.

Most bird books say chickadees rarely use nesting boxes, preferring holes in trees. However, I've had a birdhouse on my third-floor city deck for at least 10 years, and the chickadees keep returning. This morning one landed briefly, perhaps to check things out. The cat instantly went into "hunting alert" mode, but the door to the deck was closed - all she could do was to look. The house hangs too high for her to disturb, although she will sometimes crouch beneath it, looking up as if to calculate the distance. The adult birds keep flying in and out, calling "big bad cat" alerts to each other.