The Birds!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, first of all, we have a wood stove in our basement. It's all hooked up and to code and everything, but we have never used it. Because it costs a fortune for home insurance if we ever do. Which is fine. It looks nice anyway.
Over the winter, two birds got in, unbeknownst to us. And subsequently died in said wood stove. Not using it, there really was no huge need to be peering in through the little window to count the carnage.
We heard a noise yesterday, and found our dear kitties watching what I will call "Bird TV"...noses pressed up against the glass, they were happily watching a live bird flutter around in the stove. We came up with several ideas for how to get this bird out of the wood stove without major chaos. Having found a suitable solution (big bag over door of wood stove, bird flies into bag, we quickly close bag, run upstairs, free said birdie), we prepare to execute the plan. Open the wood stove. No bird in the bag. No noise. We bang the stove and pipe, hoping to flush it out. Nothing. Close the door, peer through the window. No bird. So I don rubber gloves and hold my trusty garbage bag, and fish out the two dead birds. Still no sign of the live birdie. Go upstairs, grab the vacuum to suck up the soot the birds had knocked out of the pipe. Sucking away. Suddenly there is an explosion of feathers and said birdie emerges from the ashes and flies, you guessed it, past me and into the house. Thankfully the dog was already sequestered in a bedroom from the moment of the wood stove attempt, but let me tell you, there were two kitties who very much enjoyed THIS turn of events.
It took a long time and a lot of effort on the part of hubby to chase down this totally freaked out ball of feathers. In the end, it involved a roll of toilet paper, the top of a clothes hamper, a girl guide cookie box, and a pillowcase. We finally captured the bird and set it free. It flew off as fast as its little wings could go. I returned immediately downstairs to finish the job of cleaning up. I was just reaching for the door of the wood stove to open it and finish cleaning when PLOP...there was a bird fluttering around in the wood stove.
It seems to have found its way back out through the pipe, as it disappeared before we even considered trying another evacuation, but then, who knows...maybe there's a nest up there somewhere. Time will tell, and hopefully we will figure out how to block the thing before we repeat that fiasco.