Last week a robin showed up in the garden and began using one of the branches of the vitex tree as a springboard to throw himself at the window, over and over again. The loud thumping could be heard in the house morning, noon, and evening. As it continued day after day, I confess, it became quite annoying, especially during my afternoon nap! I tapped on the window whenever I was nearby, but he was undeterred. He just kept coming back.

I wondered how this robin could keep throwing himself at the window without hurting himself, so I watched from inside. To my dismay, I realized he could keep it up forever. Each time he flew at the window, he executed a neat quarter-backflip, thumped the window with his feet, and then flew back to his perch completely unharmed.

Gentle Reader, though I was sympathetic to his mating ritual, after more than a week, I decided to take action. This morning, I created a cage made of picture hanging wire around his favorite branch, so he could no longer perch there.

So far, so good. I’ll keep you posted if he outsmarts me.