Backyard Funeral

Yesterday we held an impromptu bird funeral. I was sitting on the family room floor, leaning against the couch that is situated under the window when there was a terrific crash against the window. My first thought was that one of my children had hit a ball into it, and the looks of shock and gasps of horror from the children all around me, momentarily convinced me that someone had carelessly broken the window. Never mind that all the likely culprits were the same chilren who were staring in horror at the window behind my head--these were instantaneous thoughts. Then began the chorus of "It was a bird!" and "That bigger bird was chasing it!" Dreading what I would see, I went to look out the back door, as the majority of my children moved to look out the window. There on the back porch we watched a robin take it's last few spastic breaths before becoming completely still.

Our family room window looks out on a covered porch of reasonable size, this bird had to have made some calculated moves just to have gotten near the window. Then there is the matter of the second bird that was sighted. The younger eye-witnesses claimed it was a hawk. I think this is unlikely, as I have never seen a hawk in my backyard. However, we have Arizona Woodpeckers in the area, and one in particular that frequents our yard. The coloring is similar enough to a Red Tail Hawk, to be mistaken in a moment of excitement. So my assumption is that the other bird must have been our resident woodpecker. Another mark against him. This woodpecker loves to pound on my house! Usually in the early morning hours, right outside my bedroom. You may not know this, in fact it is a sign of the desperation this bird has driven me to that I do, but you can't shoot a woodpecker. They are a protected species. Interestingly, the woodpecker has ran into that same window before. So the prevalent theory among my children is that he purposely led the poor robin to its death, chasing it into a window he had previously ran into himself.

Well, we could hardly leave the bird lying just a few feet from the back door. So Erin and Bayley got shovels and picked a spot in the yard where the ground wasn't impossibly hard. Fionn was desperate to oversee every aspect of the proceedings. A bit of scientific curiosity/ ambulance chaser mentality/ honest sadness all apparent in her words and actions. "I want to see, I want to see!" "Oh...he was my favorite birdie." "He broke his neck!" Before the earth could be piled over the bird's body, Liam felt moved to proclaim "He was a nice bird, and the other bird was a meany bird." Erin and Bayley filled in the hole and Aislin led Ronan, Liam and Fionn about the yard finding violets, rocks and pine cones with which to decorate the fresh grave. Inside, the older boys had watched most of the proceedings through the dining room window, at most, faintly curious. When the funeral goers returned inside though, Kegan expressed the opinion that he thought it would be fitting if we took the rest of the day off from school. In honor of the poor bird, of course.