Yesterday morning we did a low-key birdwalk around the boardwalk at Nisqually NWR with our extended family, and just as we passed through the willows area on the west side, headed toward the twin barns, my daughter called my attention to a remarkable structure that must have been a Bushtit nest; it surely must have been a nest from last year, since it's so early in the spring and I saw no Bushtits nearby. Haley, our 9-year-old, spotted it first. As the reference books describe, it's a hanging structure around 6 inches long, woven of moss, lichen, grasses, and other bits of greenery, partially supported by twigs, with the opening at the top facing away from the boardwalk. I was surprised to see it so close to a place where many people are walking, only around 5-1/2 to 6 feet above the boardwalk and easy to reach, but remarkably well camouflaged; I must have passed it many times on other walks without noticing. Look for it as you go by--on the west side of the boardwalk.

Burt Guttman
The Evergreen State College
Olympia, WA 98505 guttmanb at evergreen.edu
Home: 7334 Holmes Island Road S. E., Olympia, 98503