Back in February our church held it’s yearly grand fund-raiser – a silent auction.  The organizing committee really pulled out all the stops and created an incredible evening of fun and entertainment.  Our Fellowship Hall was transformed into something that resembled a New Orleans night club/café.  Sparkling gold, green and purple beads and baubles decorated tall round café tables and stools, and similar colors decorated the walls and the many tables cram-packed with items for the silent auction.

One side classroom held some very yummy food – and plenty of it!  I went back a couple of times because there was just so much to choose from and it was all very appetizing.  (Church ladies sure know how to cook!)  The other side classroom was a fun “ticket auction” area.  You bought a sheet of tickets that all had the same number on and you went round the room looking at the various items displayed and each one had a plastic cup in front of it.  If you liked an item, you tore off a ticket (or more than one) and popped into the cup.   You maintained the stub which carried the same number as the tickets.

Both the silent auction and the ticket auction were closed at the same time.  We had made bids on a few items and were happy to win a couple, especially tickets for a showing of the Peking Acrobats which were dated for our wedding anniversary.  When the results were displayed for the numbers pulled from the ticket auction, we were even more happy to discover that we had won several items including a “Bird/Garden Basket”.  The basket contained several different items including a fun, round, hanging bird house painted bright blue with a straw thatched roof which we hung from a small tree at the back of our yard.

About the same time that I first noticed my Baltimore Oriole, I also noticed a small bird “checking out” the blue bird house.  After observing him a couple of times I identified him as a Carolina Chickadee.  He would sit on the branch that the house hung from and then he’d sit on the peg just below the opening into the house and kind of look in.  Then he’d hop back on the branch.  He did this several times and then he actually put his head inside the opening before hopping back onto the branch. 

This “checking out” continued for several days until one day he brought his mate to check it out too.  They would both pop their heads in and out, then fly back on the branch, then after a while they would fly off.   About a week ago only one of them came but this time he actually went inside the house.  He stayed a few moments then flew off.  This continued for a couple of days and then, as I was sunbathing, I heard this rhythmic tapping coming from inside the bird house.  It went on for a few minutes, then the Chickadee flew out.  He returned another day to do some more tapping.

Finally, two days ago as I was in my early morning quiet time with God, I noticed the Chickadee making repeated fly offs back and forth to the house.  He was most definitely on a mission, flying off then returning about a minute later and going right into the bird house; out again and back a minute later.  So I grabbed the binoculars, watched closely, and realized he was carrying tufts of stuff into the house.  Bingo!  He was nest making.  Since then they have both been back and forth carrying more stuff in to create a soft nest.

Yesterday, while I was out of the house, Richard said he saw an amazing sight.  He had glanced over at the bird house and noticed a squirrel on the branch sniffing out the house.  All of a sudden the two Chickadees appeared and started puffing themselves up, hunching their wings forward and beating them back and forth making a loud whirring noise as they hovered in front of the squirrel.  When that didn’t budge him, they “dive-bombed” him, actually hitting him with their wings, and he finally ran off.

This truly confirmed that we have “guests” in the garden and that they had set up home and were protecting their territory.  We are now looking forward to watching the family form and hopefully we will see the little ones when they begin emerging.  What an amazing creation God has made.