For a
couple of weeks, the quiet in the house has been interrupted by a steady tock,
tock, tock, light yet rhythmic. It had the sound of an old wall clock, steadily
keeping time while pendulum and escape click and clack unerringly.
It took
a bit of investigating to discover the source, partly because the noise would go
on only for a minute or so, then stay silent for a while after. At last we saw
the chick-a-dees taking an interest in the gutter that sits below the roofline
of the sunroom. Evidently, they have been attracted to the pine seed which had
been falling gently and it would seem collecting in all places, including the
gutter screen. The tock, tock, tock was simply their way of knocking seed to
open it, and it reverberated through the house.
Chick-a-dees
on the gutter are one thing. Today, the noise was decidedly louder, and we’ve
come to anticipate this problem each early fall. The downy woodpeckers seem to
think our wood slat siding and cedar shake are enticing sites for meals. The
downy will hammer forcefully, unfortunately making holes in the siding, which
necessitates action on our part. Shiny pie pans and toy whirly fans hung from
nails placed in spots on the house side seem to work well, driving the pesky
downy away, either out of fear or embarrassment.
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