Well, I was doing some work out in the yard the other day, and I noticed a pair of Starlings building a nest in my son's basketball stand pipe. I figured that I would climb up and dig the nest material out of the pipe and plug it with something to deter the little buggers. Immediately upon approaching the basketball stand, I was dive-bombed by one of the brazen little birds. I thought, "you've got to be kidding me, this little *_*_*_*_*_* has got a lot of nerve" He swooped at me again, and my attention was drawn to his mate, who is now perched on the roof of my nearby hay barn screeching at me. Who would have thought that these little birds would be so territorial? Well, I was a little bit put off by the display of reckless behavior on their part and hurried into the house to retrieve the pellet gun and some pellets. As I exited the basement door, I noticed they wasted no time getting right back to work carrying weeds and twigs back to the nest site, so I holed up in the hay barn and waited for a clear shot. I have a clear site of the pipe from there and noticed that they pop out of the top of the pipe and stand on the rim for a second before taking flight. Within 5 minutes, I had two dead yellow beaks on the ground and a feeling of gratification that I had taught these two the ultimate lesson in "Territory". As I placed the two birds into a wheelbarrow of lawn clippings, I heard the familiar "Caaw....Caaw" of a collared dove as he landed in my pine tree, I let him have it just for good measure. I placed the three birds into the wheelbarrow and snapped this picture......enjoy.
T
