As soon as the first ray of morning sunlight swept over the jacaranda in the courtyard, the Karoo reed wren flapped its brown wings and stopped on the metal casing of the malfunctioning generator. It tilted its head and pecked at the rusty wiring post. Last year, there was a regular buzzing sound coming from here, but now only the whimpering of the wind blowing through the cracks remains - in the eyes of this bird, known for its precise nest building, this suddenly "silent" iron box is like a neighbor's nest that suddenly stops working, confusing and hiding an inexplicable sense of security.
For pearl necked spotted doves who often forage on lawns, a malfunctioning automatic sprinkler is a more practical problem. The water mist that used to be sprayed every morning at 7 o'clock would shake off the dewdrops on the leaves of the clover, making it easier for them to peck at the snails under the leaves. Now the nozzle is crooked and stuck in the soil, and occasional water droplets will only form small mud pits on the ground, forcing the spotted dove to go a long way to find a clean feeding ground. "Humans always make useful things and suddenly make them break down." When a turtle dove combed its feathers on a wutong branch, it seemed to complain to its companion that the fallen leaves swept by its wings fell on the valve of the faulty sprinkler.
The most excited group belongs to the family swallow group. They treat the cooling fins of the malfunctioning air conditioner outdoor unit as a natural "watchtower", with a few young swallows squeezed between the metal grilles, seeing further than in a nest under the eaves. Once, the hot air from the air conditioning system would push them back, but now the cool exterior has become an excellent resting place in summer. Mother swallows even try to build new nests in the gaps of the compressor with straw in their mouths, until they are startled by the temporary warning line set up by maintenance personnel - in their eyes, this "iron lump that no longer heats up" is just a new landmark temporarily abandoned by humans and just suitable for settling down.
The red tailed owl stood on a higher oak branch, scrutinizing everything with sharp eyes. It can see that the maintenance personnel have come three times: the first time they knocked with a toolbox, the second time they only posted a piece of paper filled with symbols, and the third time they simply inserted a warning sign next to the machine. This object, which makes strange noises and occasionally emits smoke, has now become a "still life" in the courtyard, neither threatening its hunting of field mice nor interfering with its territory in the treetops. In the world of raptors, humanity's "unfinished" is just an insignificant interlude in the natural order.
When the sunset gilded the malfunctioning machine, a group of sparrows landed on the platform at the top of the machine. They chattered and debated the purpose of this' iron house ', some saying it was once a warm haven, while others said it was a monster that could' get angry '. It wasn't until dusk grew darker that they flapped their wings and flew towards the bushes - for these highly adaptable creatures, the "faults" left by humans will eventually become a part of the courtyard scenery, like mushrooms on tree stumps or cobwebs in wall crevices, slowly finding their place in time.
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