The following is a more for entertainment value than anything else.

But hunting for and photographing odd nests can be a fun thing to do ...

On Jun 19, 2009, at 8:30 PM, Gary Bletsch wrote:

> I was checking some metal fenceposts for wasp nests yesterday, and
> found a surprising chickadee nest.
>
> The fenceposts are made of steel pipe sunk in the ground; the tops
> of the pipes are open, and about half the pipes end up with some
> aggressive wasps nesting in them. I was going around with a stick,
> so I could pop the nests downward. Then they fall into the stagnant
> water that collects down inside the pipe, and that's the end of the
> aggressive wasps.
>
> One pipe had a Black-capped Chickadee in it! The pipe is at a 45-
> degree angle to the ground, and the chickadee was about six or eight
> inches down inside the pipe. I was amazed, to say the least.
> Actually, I am still wondering if the bird might be stuck down there!


The Parids (the Chickadees in the new World; the Tits in the Old
World) love really odd cavity nests because we provide them.

BBC Springwatch 2009 (a TV series in the UK) ran a recent
"competition" to find the most odd nesting location.

Their first example is now becomming common in the UK with people
smoking outside building and building installing wall mounted ash
containers that look just like nesting cavities to a Blue Tit. See the
blog entry for a photo and the comments for plenty of nests.

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/springwatch/2009/05/congratulations_springers.html
>

Plenty more here including the oddest one a Blue Tit nest in a
automatic railway crossing barrier (yes, in the counterbalance end
that moves up and down ...).

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/springwatch/2009/05/tell_us_about_strange_nests.html
>

Unfortunatly the videos don't work outside the UK but the photos are
fine.

Many more photos here ...

http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcspringwatch/discuss/72157619296308953/
<http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcspringwatch/discuss/72157619296308953/>
--
Kevin Purcell
kevinpurcell at pobox.com