Kudos to You, Mystery Bird!

When I was a kid, one day I found an empty bird's nest and brought it home. As I held it up to show my mother she casually mentioned that sometimes there are bugs in bird nests. And as the words escaped her mouth, the bugs began to show themselves. I shrieked and dropped the nest and when it hit the floor (and this memory may have grown and changed over the years) hundreds of thousands of squirmy little critters scattered in all directions as I danced and pranced trying to avoid them. They were those creepy, shiny-brown little lobster-shaped monsters that I referred to back then as penny-pinchers due to the little pinchers on the end of their front set of legs, but have heard referred to since as silverfish. In any case, ICK!

I was reminded of that the other day when Sweet Pea found a nest in a tree in the back yard. Fortunately, this one does not seem to be swarming with critters, but it is carefully encased in a bag nonetheless. A 20 pound concrete bag, covered in steel and welded shut. OK, that's what my mind was telling me to do as visions of squirmy critters rolled past at the back of my eyeballs, but really it's just a Ziplock back. It should be enough should a critter come wandering out. Unless those pincers are extra tough and manage to cut right through the flimsy plastic, letting out the swarm. No, no. don't think about it.

Let's talk instead about the nest. It is a Very Nice Nest. Whoever built it knew what she was doing! It is made of mud and sticks and bits of string. It's a nice size - a deep bowl shape and is filled with pine needles and leaves. Very cozy! I suspect it may have been robins, but it could just as easily have been sparrows, starlings or grackles. In any case, kudos to you mystery bird! (I hope she was done with it!)

Quack!