Subject: [Tweeters] Bushtit nest at Nisqually
Date: Apr 11 09:13:15 2005
From: Bill Ferensen - ferensen at hotmail.com


By coincidence, we ran across two Bushtit nests this weekend, both attended
to by pairs of birds. The backyard nest is indeed close to kids and cats and
other distractions but probably high enough to be safe. However, the birds
constant chatter gives away their location. See photos:
http://www.pbase.com/ferensen/image/41885623
http://www.pbase.com/ferensen/image/41831852
Bill Ferensen
Seattle
ferensen at hotmail.com

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Guttman, Burt" <GuttmanB at evergreen.edu>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Tweeters] Bushtit nest at Nisqually
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 08:52:03 -0700

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

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