Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Nest Hunting


      I just love seeing vacated bird’s nests in tree limbs at this time of year.  They always catch my eye when they have a dollop of snow on top of them.  Sometimes when I see that puff of white, I almost get fooled into thinking it is the rounded form of an egg.  Bird’s nests aren’t the only kind of nests easily visible at this time of year.  Squirrels’ summer homes can be seen in the treetops as clumps of dried, brown leaves.  During the summer, squirrels create these nests, or dreys, to use for sleeping and resting.  Often where you spot one drey, you will find another nearby.   Squirrels always build their dreys in a tree adjacent to another tree so that they have an additional escape route, if need be.   If you aren’t able to find any nests in your own yard, try looking for them in trees as you drive around town.  Once you try to start spotting them, it will become impossible to look at a stand of trees, even in the middle of the city, without first scanning the tops to spot dreys or bird nests.
            When my children were young, I often asked them to count the number of squirrel dreys they spotted between our house and the grocery store or wherever my errands took us.  It kept them occupied and they always tried to spot new ones along our familiar routes.  In this day when even the family car has a television screen, it is sometimes good to take a moment to look out the window at your surroundings.  

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