This is a good time for a walk around the neighborhood, to check on which birds have returned and are busy building nests. Our phoebes have returned and are cleaning up their old digs, and I see other birds flying off with bits of grass grasped tightly in their beaks.
Birds like messy yards… places with tall grass, brush piles and shrubs to hide in. Our forsythia is a favorite place for nest-builders. The birds use all sorts of things as construction materials: dried grass, twigs, pine needles, leaves, lichens, tufts of fur – even strips of foil and pieces of plastic bags.
Gather some nesting materials and build your own nest. When you're done, test it out by putting some chicken eggs inside. Then go check out who is nesting in your back yard - and what they are using to build their nests.
Check out what's happening at STEM Friday.
Gather some nesting materials and build your own nest. When you're done, test it out by putting some chicken eggs inside. Then go check out who is nesting in your back yard - and what they are using to build their nests.
Check out what's happening at STEM Friday.
We're very excited! Just yesterday we retrieved an abandoned bird's nest - earlier this year we'd seen some blackbirds building a nest in our garden, but then it got abandoned. Yesterday we finally retrieved the nest, to add to our natural history museum. It's SO beautiful - moss lined and cosy.
ReplyDeleteMy robins are nesting. So are the cardinals. Can't wait to see if the hummingbirds come back.
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