It's been three weeks since the last of the fledglings left the nest the House Finches built on the beam above our front porch. http://plantagarden-itllgrowonyou.blogspot.com/2020/05/finches-leave-nest.html
Three weeks that we've been able to go in and out our front door and sit on our front porch without worrying about disturbing the birds. And three weeks that it's taken us to get rid of the bird mites that started biting us after we took down the old nest.
We weren't very smart when we took down the old nest. We wore masks and gloves, anticipating some debris and dried bird poop, but dislodging the nest from the plastic spikes that, far from discouraging the birds to nest there seem actually to have become a desirable design feature of their nests, created a cloud of airborne dust, debris and apparently a vast colony of hungry mites. We have no idea which of the thousands of species of mites they were, but probably some type of bird mite, a parasite that feeds on the blood of birds. Ravenous bird mites with no birds to feast on look for the nearest substitute, and we were it. More about the bird mite. And more: http://medent.usyd.edu.au/fact/birdmite.html.
We should probably have gone inside and taken showers and washed our clothes immediately after we took down the nest, but we didn't do that and consequently have spent most of the last three weeks dealing with the itching and discomfort caused by the mite bites. Bird mites don't survive long without birds to feed on, but it was long enough for us.
We're too soft hearted to take down the new nest before the birds lay a new set of eggs, but we're not happy they're back.
Next time we take a nest down: full on hazmat suits.
