One lucky bird...

[Dalmatian90]

Come home, put some wood in the stove.

Felt odd, but I think, "One of the logs last night mustn't have burned all the way."

Toss in the newspaper and kindling, go to the bedroom to change.

Come back out and the stove is "puffing" funny. WTF?

Oh well, kindling is roaring nicely, I put in another log which knocked down the pile a bit.

And...out flies a Blue Bird.



As it didn't quite get the concept of glass, I had to open the kitchen window before it successfully flew out of the house.

 

[crowbuster]

Good save. We have seen hundreds the past few days, tis the season.

 

[pweber]

I've seen stinkybugs walking around on the inside of my glass door after the fire has been roaring for an hour or two. Weird.

 

[Cody]

This thread isn't ages old so I didn't see the point in creating a new one. With the temps we've been having I start a fire at night after supper and just let it go out the next day. Well tonight I heard some rustling in the chimney and just thought it was some buildup falling down as happens sometimes. Well I got up and started tapping the stove pipe and heard a bit more fall, and figured while I was up to just load it up and get a fire going. It's a Drolet Myriad so open up the bypass damper and start stacking kindling in it. Start the paper up, leave the door cracked and go sit down. I don't have a direct line of site but can see the reflection through the living room window. Hockey game is on so it's kinda loud but see some "flashes" through the window reflection, kind just passed it off but then seen a big one and thought it was just a piece of unburnt paper flopping around so got up to shut the door. I must have seen this little guy first cause I opened the door instead of shutting it, he's one lucky bird as the OP's title states as well.

 

[svk]

Lucky!

 

[Cody]

Lucky!

I suppose leaving the door cracked helped cool him off and provide fresh air, not sure I'd be interested in smoked sparrow jerky.

 

[svk]

Never had live birds in the stove/chimney.

My friends cabin used to have bat problems. One cool August evening we lit up and had bats everywhere. In the stove, up the chimney and even had one come out of the door completely covered in soot and ash.

 

[Cody]

Never had live birds in the stove/chimney.

My friends cabin used to have bat problems. One cool August evening we lit up and had bats everywhere. In the stove, up the chimney and even had one come out of the door completely covered in soot and ash.

Not sure I would want to attempt catching them but I wouldn't let them die either, it's my opinion we need more bats around here.

We have three evergreen type trees on the east side of our tree that are home to around a hundred little sparrows, finch's and wrens I bet so I'm surprised this is the first time. We go through a lot of bird seed.

 

[zogger]

I keep my chimney screened with a scrap piece of 1/4 inch mesh and a few bricks to hold it down. Busts up any dangerous flying embers and keeps the critters out. It's never plugged up, either.

 

[TRTermite]

Just a thought
When it is cold out at night early morning birds probably lite on the cool chimney rim and the smoke/gasses are lacking oxygen. Birdie passes out and falls forward most likely into the chimney and that is why a rain cap is a good thing on a chimney. I have had to remove dead birds from old chimneys people have used when installing high efficiency gas furnaces and either cap blew off or never was, back pressure will kick system into safety mode.

 

[svk]

I have found birds in multiple brick chimneys. I figured they either made it down the 30+ feet and couldn't vertically fly back up or they got their feathers logged with ash and soot and couldn't fly at all.

I don't know for sure but would think your normal bird would have trouble flying straight up. Most birds are built to fly forward or at an incline.

 

[unclemoustache]

Wow - that's pretty crazy! Makes me wonder how many live birds and critters we've all burned up without knowing it.

 

[Fireaxman]

On several occasions I have had flying squirrels enter my house through the chimney when there was no fire but the damper was left open. On several other occasions I have found the mummified remains of flying squirrels behind the damper when I cleaned out my chimney in the Fall. It is always a very startling surprise when one of the "Lucky" ones runs across my bed at 3 AM or flys off the ceiling fan into the mirror in my room, and always an interesting chase trying to herd it out the door. Apparently they think my chimney is a hollow tree and a good place to nest.

 

[Cody]

I keep my chimney screened with a scrap piece of 1/4 inch mesh and a few bricks to hold it down. Busts up any dangerous flying embers and keeps the critters out. It's never plugged up, either.

I've got some chicken wire I might wrap around it but I'm not crawling up there right now, then again Sunday is supposed to be nearly 60º out. Here is the cap I have on it.

 

[Fireaxman]

I have a piece of diamond mesh steel grate to cover the chimney. Problem is, it takes two ladders and a 20 foot climb to put it in place. Of course (a Murphy Corollary) as soon as I decide I am done with fires in the spring, and install the grate. a cold front comes through and I decide, " Oh Wonderful, an opportunity for one last fire", which of course means two more climbs to remove, then re-install the grate. Consequently the grate is seldome installed before June, well after breeding season. By then there are Chimney Swifts nesting in the chimney, so, well, the grate is just seldom installed.

 

[hardpan]

This thread isn't ages old so I didn't see the point in creating a new one. With the temps we've been having I start a fire at night after supper and just let it go out the next day. Well tonight I heard some rustling in the chimney and just thought it was some buildup falling down as happens sometimes. Well I got up and started tapping the stove pipe and heard a bit more fall, and figured while I was up to just load it up and get a fire going. It's a Drolet Myriad so open up the bypass damper and start stacking kindling in it. Start the paper up, leave the door cracked and go sit down. I don't have a direct line of site but can see the reflection through the living room window. Hockey game is on so it's kinda loud but see some "flashes" through the window reflection, kind just passed it off but then seen a big one and thought it was just a piece of unburnt paper flopping around so got up to shut the door. I must have seen this little guy first cause I opened the door instead of shutting it, he's one lucky bird as the OP's title states as well.

Quick. Take that bird to the store to buy a lottery ticket. He is on a roll. I think he will share.

 

[old CB]

When we lived in town we had a gas fireplace in the front room, so with gas there was no screen on the chimney. One day I heard a scuffling noise coming from the fireplace. It got louder and closer. I thought that's one hell of a squirrel, and got up to investigate. I arrived at the fireplace screen just as a male wood duck appeared and was emerging from the screen. I grabbed him, took him to the front door, and watched him fly off. I felt pretty lucky that I'd been home, as we had three house-cats and I could picture the bloody circus we would have had. I went up and put screen on that chimney.

Oh, and the other adventure we had with that gas fireplace (before the duck). We came home one evening after being gone all day. I walked in the back door and smelled gas--strong, as in the house was filled. Told my wife to stay put outside while I checked it out. Got to the front room and could hear the gas escaping from the gas jet. Feathers, blood, and scrape marks told the story of a small bird coming down the chimney and the cats jumping inside the fireplace to get at it, and landing on the lever that opened the gas valve. If we had so much as flicked a light switch, the result would have lifted the house off its foundation. Afterward, I tightened the valve so you almost needed pliers to open it.

 

[svk]

We had two ducks (mergansers) get in through our propane boiler hood over the years. IIRC one died pretty much immediately of shock. The other one cut itself on the chimney and proceeded to pace the walls of the room until it bled to death. There was an outline of blood on the floor all around the room. Luckily it was concrete!

 

[Cody]

When we lived in town we had a gas fireplace in the front room, so with gas there was no screen on the chimney. One day I heard a scuffling noise coming from the fireplace. It got louder and closer. I thought that's one hell of a squirrel, and got up to investigate. I arrived at the fireplace screen just as a male wood duck appeared and was emerging from the screen. I grabbed him, took him to the front door, and watched him fly off. I felt pretty lucky that I'd been home, as we had three house-cats and I could picture the bloody circus we would have had. I went up and put screen on that chimney.

Oh, and the other adventure we had with that gas fireplace (before the duck). We came home one evening after being gone all day. I walked in the back door and smelled gas--strong, as in the house was filled. Told my wife to stay put outside while I checked it out. Got to the front room and could hear the gas escaping from the gas jet. Feathers, blood, and scrape marks told the story of a small bird coming down the chimney and the cats jumping inside the fireplace to get at it, and landing on the lever that opened the gas valve. If we had so much as flicked a light switch, the result would have lifted the house off its foundation. Afterward, I tightened the valve so you almost needed pliers to open it.

I got a soft spot for them wood ducks. It's funny the amount of people that view a wood burning appliance as a major fire hazard but don't think twice about a gas burning furnace. Our furnace doesn't have a pilot light, one of those hot surface ignition types and it was on it's way out apparently. I had noticed a few rough ignitions that I'm willing to be most people wouldn't. Well not long after those there was such a violent ignition that it created a dust cloud from dust in the back of it, and cracked the ceramic of that igniter in 3-5 pieces. It is old enough that finding parts for it are hard, and damn expensive. I honestly worry about electrical fires the most though.