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Where We Left Off:
The spy known as The Grey Man aka Sierra Six, has been visiting the Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency at night to ravage the bait from mouse traps without getting caught.
***This case file includes a dead animal.***
The Body in the Patio:
This case was peculiar yet tragic because Gus and I knew immediately what had occurred when he found a dead body in Oliver’s patio.
It was a perfectly chilly Thursday afternoon. I recall that most of our November days had uncomfortable gusty wind. We had branches to pick up along the borders and some around Gnome Grove. I appreciated the days where the wind was not challenging. Glorious flannel days! Even if I needed a winter hat and a scarf with my flannel, I find those days pretty nice.
On that afternoon, Oliver didn’t join Gus on patrol and adventures. We went out at an odd time for us. It was understandable that Ollie wanted to nap while his favorite person rested so he could be on her lap. She’s always cold which means the warmth of a cat is a treasured experience.
Without more to the preamble about all the wonderful moments with Gus watching critters, smelling the fireplaces, and doing an indoor inspection of the hangar, I’ll get right to the crime.
The Crime Scene:
Gus frequently spends time in Oliver’s patio because it’s a prime location for chipmunks to run from one end to the other going behind the stairs through small gaps. He’ll jump up to one table to decide if he likes that vantage. If the birds aren’t coming close enough, he’ll move to the other table. The birds are too afraid to land in the feeder if either of us are only a few feet away. Even though I immediately feel bad for the birds trying to get the snacks I put out for them, I always have to remind myself that there are birdseeds not far away in Gnome Grove.
Gus was on the “floor” of the patio which isn’t much of a floor. It’s dirt, gravel, a lot of weeds, and heavy flat slabs of slate. The arrangement of the slate slabs isn’t what you’d call “finished” since they’ve been lifted and moved during projects and never set flat to return to the once puzzle-like floor.
Victimology:
Speaking of slate, it’s the one of the prevalent colors in the cold season. It’s also one of the varieties of an abundant winter bird, the Dark-Eyed Junco. These small, round birds are in the sparrow family. According to the birding websites, they come in a few shades of neutral tones like charcoal and slate. The Oregon variety has a different pattern all-together from our east coast birds. Ours follow the “Great White Shark” pattern as I call it whether I’m referring to sharks, cats, or anything else. This is the pattern of a white underside and a grey dorsal side. There’s a stylish variety called the pink-sided junco found in the Rocky Mountains that I could mistake for an Eastern towhee. One that plays it between stealth mode and flashy is called the red-backed junco. The grey-headed looks like a paler version of the red-backed. The white-winged junco is barely discernible to my novice eyes and ears from the slate junco. Way up in Canada, they have their own color patterns too.
These adorable birds that can resemble an orb with a beak, are only here during the non-breeding season. We’ll see how climate change affects that. When they do show up, they are in numbers! It’s not overwhelming like the blackbirds (grackles, starlings, crows, and red-wings). But, they do make quite a social gathering at the snacking places. They socialize with other sparrows. They don’t seem to tolerate blue jays at all (not many do). They are especially sensitive to the presence of a cat like Gus. Even when they could safely land on a feeder if he’s on top of the nearest table and not within swatting distance, they opt to avoid the situation.
During the time when Gus was sniffing on the “floor” of the patio for any trace of edible grass, his Super Smeller picked up on something that shouldn’t be there. I stood next to him and looked down. When he moved his head out of the way, I saw a shape of white and grey.
“Oh no,” I said. “Is that what I think it is?”
“If you were thinking of another dead body, then yes.” Gus turned around and pretended to not have much interest in this discovery, but I knew he was acting.
I did a visual examination before determining the body was fresh (bug-free) before picking it up. Now I know, technically I should have put gloves on, but I always wash my hands when I get back home. I wanted to handle the body from their delicate legs which would be clunky with work gloves.
I don’t know how to identify sexes of birds if they aren’t starkly color dimorphic. I knew Oliver would do some research on this after I presented him with photos of the crime scene—if in fact, this was a crime scene.
The bird was found approximately three feet away from one of the large glass doors. It was on the ground next to slabs of slate stepping stones. The body was supine (belly up). There were no outward presentations of injuries such as blood, missing feathers, or bite marks.
“It looks like it’s sleeping,” I said more to myself than to Gus.
This was definitely a slate dark-eyed junco. Oliver later declared it was a male. The feathers were in pristine working condition.
I allowed Gus to “inspect” the body more thoroughly. He might even have tried reviving it. Hard to say.
When he was finished, I carried the body to an open space and laid it to rest on a large brown oak leaf. The bird was left to rest in state for a couple of days before someone else removed him.
Witness Reports:
Oliver told Gus and me that he had spoken with his favorite human, The Cook. She had heard on more than two occasions things hitting the glass doors. With the gusty wind, she wasn’t sure if the noises were inanimate objects blowing around or birds flying into the glass.
“But I had put blue tape on the glass?” I remembered a day in the beginning of summer when I did that. “I hadn’t thought about it missing. Who took it down and why?”
“This should not be a shock to you,” Oliver said. “The Grumpy Old Man removed all the tape to clean the windows. He never asked you to replace it and you never noticed.”
“Quite the detective,” Gus said from the top of his cardboard fort.
“Hey!” I said. I knew he was right though. I’m not observant. Not. At. All. I focus on specific things like looking at the ground so I don’t trip or staring into the trees and sky for birds. As the famous experiment goes, a gorilla could walk right by while I’m trying to count the number of red squirrels and I wouldn’t notice.
Case Findings:
Oliver and Gus pieced together their observations and considered what The Cook said. They deduced that this male dark-eyed junco accidentally killed himself by trying to fly through the glass door.
Victim: unknown
Species: Dark-eyed Junco
Age: adult
Cause of Death: impact trauma
Manner of Death: accidental
Date of Death: 13-November-2025
Associates/Family: unknown
In a way, the humans of the Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency bear some of the blame in this bird’s death because we did not ensure that the large glass doors and windows were properly bird-proofed. However, any reasonable being would understand that this death was self-inflicted but accidental in nature.
Case Status: Closed
ProTips:
To make a space bird-proof or bird-safe, do not use netting or any such arrangement of cords where any animal can get tangled! This is why it’s illegal in some places to put nets over fruit trees—bats get tangled, injured, and die. When I had a short section of deer net on our balcony in a failed attempt to keep Gus from going on the roof (now he’s Batman!), I saw a large dragonfly get caught. I was able to free it. I have no idea if birds had issues with it, but I would not risk it.
Not affiliated, but I found a retailer who offers various styles of window decorations that are subtle and classy. I like this diamond pattern that gives glass a Gothic or Medieval look.
Apparently, there is also a UV liquid that you can use to treat glass. I’ve never seen this in action and known about it. One tip is that you should put this liquid on the glass and then apply decals.
Resources:
Audubon Gallery showing female dark-eyed junco