After learning about nests, the kids were assigned to build one themselves. I was hoping someone would attempt a woven nest, but the results were a little more predictable than that.
Anthony's nest was built from mud, straw, and (as real birds would do) spit. In his manly, future-engineer way, he made a decoy-nest on top (to fool predators and cuckoos), with the real nest hidden underneath. Of course, mud nests have to be located on the picnic table. Thanks, Odie.
Sofia's nest: carefully shaped mud and straw, dried and lined with moss (which grows in abundance in our back yard). Even an "egg". (That stone's a pretty good look-alike, don't you think?)
Annika's was a "scrape nest". Minimal effort. Find an indentation, throw in a few blades of grass, and you're done. She said, "What? Killdeer do it!" I couldn't argue with that.
We also made a trip to the
Theler Wetlands -
this time armed with a stroller - where we saw nesting and pairing birds a-plenty. Sooo many red-winged blackbirds in the marsh grass. Canada geese, mallards, swallows, and (the holy grail of animal-watching) A RIVER OTTER! We were
so excited!
To go with our "nesting" theme, we also found an old, woven oriole nest...but alas, I don't know how to get pictures from camera to computer...so just close your eyes and imagine a hanging nest, slightly mossy...very cute.
