Under Siege

 

When I wrote my last post about Swainson's thrush, I had no intention of writing about birds again anytime soon. Nature has intervened, however. We are under siege.

For two days now, a robin has been flying into our windows. At first I thought it was due to some suncatchers I had just hung in the large living room window. I was working on the computer when I noticed repeated tappings and clunkings in the next room and went to investigate. Seeing the bird--as I thought--attacking the suncatchers, I quickly took them down. But the onslaught kept right on, and it rapidly became  apparent that the fool bird is attacking its own reflection. It's been going on for two days now! The robin moves from window to window, defending its territory from the perceived threat of an intruder. The window of my sewing room has been smacked into so many times it has actual muddy beak and feet marks on it.

I managed to film a few of the bird's assaults, and my son put it on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Aiyh8lfHII

It must be a very common occurance because we found dozens and dozens of similar videos. It is a new experience for us, though. We've had birds accidentally fly into windows before, but never a determined kamikaze robin like this one.

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Mentioning the suncatchers reminds me that I do have a few "Friday Finds" to share with you, albeit belatedly. My husband and I stopped by a church rummage sale while out doing errands last week, and I found a few vintage items, of which the suncatchers (three of them) were but a part.

They're made of plastic canvas and totally hokey, but I have to admit I'm enjoying them. The really do sparkle in the sunlight.The construction seems pretty simple--just teardrops of plastic canvas, strung together with thin wire and transparent beads, and a dab of glue.

 
Here are the other items I found at the sale:
 

Lately I've had a vintage plastic refrigerator magnet obsession. Hence, the owl. The fabric is a synthetic--vintage acetate, I believe, about 2 yards' worth.

I'm not especially big on Hummel items, but this vintage music box for 50 cents was too good a deal to pass up. It's made in Japan and plays Lara's Theme from Dr. Zhivago. It's in great condition.

This is a Sears cookie jar, also made in Japan, and dated 1981. I paid $2 for it.

I put my Etsy shops into vacation mode this afternoon, so I'm looking forward to more time for sewing and making some new projects. I'll be sharing them with you soon!