Birds in the Band Room

I kinda knew it would happen. It was International Day and I was again covering middle school band.

Luckily, this year wasn't as bad as last.

I took roll, and I found a seat. I watched. And the kiddos didn't do anything too terrible. It was actually almost a peaceful day. Then someone asked if the birds were still in the room.

Uh, what?

It was a bit later that I heard the sound of a bird taking flight. It starts with a bit of a high pitch, and then there is the flutter of wings. I looked up. Sure enough, there was a pigeon flying in the band room.

The band room has a high ceiling. Really high. I'd guesstimate that it's at least 20 ft. up. There are metal beams and windows that aren't open. There are all sorts of hiding places.

I watched the bird. I wondered. How long had it been in the band room? How did it get food? Since spring break was next week, I wondered if they'd return to an awful smell. Or did the bird know of a way out?

Then the bird managed to fly into a space between the ceiling tiles and the roof, and I went back to watching the class.

I looked up occasionally after that. And later, I saw two pigeons perched on the metal beams at the top of the room. I pointed this out to the kids who were sitting right in front of me (and right under the birds). They got a little nervous. They knew what can happen to someone sitting under a bird.

The kiddos were less concerned that the birds were there. I guess they'd found a way in a couple weeks ago.

And since there was absolutely nothing I could do about it, I considered it an SEP field situation. Although, I will be curious to learn if the birds are eventually removed.