Maternity ward food delivery
We have become owners of our very own maternity ward.
Dusky Flycatchers Muscicapa adusta, build their cup-shaped nests in cavities – rock crevices, pipes, dead tree stumps and similar tucked away location. Our local mama and her man, decided to save themselves a whole lot of effort and annexed a terracotta planter we had on the wall of the verandah. We had not gotten around to planting anything in it and if the nesting is successful, it might just be permanently changed to a maternity ward.
In an attempt to by-pass the nursery, a family member finds an alternative route to access the house.
There was a problem.
The planter was only about three metres away from the kitchen door. The door that everyone uses. It was the end of the verandah where we stored our recycling, and she was nesting at Christmas time, just when we were hosting a huge number of extended family members for the holidays. Every time someone stepped out of the door, she’d be off the nest and away.
In order to keep people away from her, Pat cordoned off the area with red and white hazard tape, as if we had our very own roadworks at the end of the verandah. We moved our recycling to another location (yes, we had to walk further to store it, but sacrifices must be made) and our guest were asked to tread lightly and keep quiet in the hospital zone.
No hooting, please!
