unwelcome guest

A couple of nights ago, I was opening the backdoor to let the kids go play outside.

As I opened the door, Addison said, "Look mom, there's a bird!"

"uh huh" I replied, assuming she was talking about a hummingbird, or something....not really listening 

But then she didn't go outside and Graham said, "Mommy ders a bird out der!"

So I looked out and yelled for Andy....

to run fast and bring my camera while you're at it because this wasn't a hummingbird.

It was a flippin' ostrich in my eyes.

Ok, maybe not an ostrich.

But it was a BIG BIRD.

 just sitting there looking at me like it was completely normal for him to be hanging out in our backyard.

These pictures do not do a great job to emphasize the size of this thing.

Mainly because it had a really sharp beak and I for one was not willing to go outside just to capture some cool pics for the blog.

So I just stayed inside the safety of my door and snapped away.

However, when Andy volunteered to go outside for a "perspective" shot, I agreed it was a good idea.

And then the bird didn't leave.

He wasn't scared in the least bit.

Because he was there for a reason.

It became apparent he couldn't care less about us, just the 15, now maybe 14 Koi fish in our pond.

I don't think he got any, but the net had been off earlier that day so we could have it cleaned out so who knows.  He came back three times though and just sat there, perched, and waiting.

I started googling "strange huge bird trying to eat my koi" and then after some research retyped, "how to keep blue heron away from koi"

1. Put a net over your pond.

Excellent.  So glad that "Catch a Kid" net has more than one purpose.

Andy ran out and tried to "shoo" the bird away.  It's really hard to shoo a 3 foot bird.

He just trotted a few feet away from the pond and then looked back at him.

Finally, he flew up on the roof....and I started to breathe a little bit easier.

Because it's completely normal to have a 3 foot bird on your roof.