Hi Tweets,

All of these posts about birds putting up nests in seemingly senseless
places reminds me of my first contact with the Audubon Society. Thirty
years ago we were living in an old farmhouse above Rainier Avenue in Renton,
and some bushtits hung their basket shaped nest by a thread (so to speak)
in the tips of a weeping willow that grew in front of our living room
window. Sure enough, we had a wind storm and the nest fell to the ground,
along with the eggs.



Frantically I called the Seattle Audubon society. Amazingly (although I
didn't realize who she was at the time) it was Hazel Wolf herself who
answered the phone. I sputtered out the tragic story and asked what to
do? I first heard a big sigh, and then, "Where do you think the term bird
brain came from? Bushtits aren't the smartest birds in the world." Then
she said I could consider just letting nature "take its course." That
certainly wasn't the answer this novice bird watcher was expecting! After
the phone call, I tried tying the nest back up in the willow, but sadly the
parents abandoned the nest. However, before our conversation ended, Hazel
did go on to give me some good information, sent me some literature about
the Seattle Audubon, I went to a meeting, and have been birding ever since.
So, now when I see a bird build a nest in an odd place I remember, "where do
you think the term bird brain came from?" and remember the great Hazel
Wolf.



Oh, and btw, there was an Olive-sided Flycatcher in Clinton on Whidbey
Island last Saturday.

Three Beers To All,

Paula Flores

Sammamish, WA

Floresnw AT hotmail.com