nest

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I wish this was my photo of the day... but it's not. I actually took this photo back in April, on one of my trips to PA. It was taken at the Gold General Store (in Gold, PA)... and this gorgeous nest was sitting on a window sill near the front door.


According to Wikipedia... "A nest is a place of refuge to hold an animal's eggs and/or provide a place to live or raise offspring. They are usually made of some organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves; or may simply be a depression in the ground, or a hole in a tree, rock or building. Human-made materials, such as string, plastic, cloth, hair or paper, may be used.

Generally each species has a distinctive style of nest. Nests can be found in many different habitats. They are built primarily by birds, but also by mammals (e.g. squirrels), fish, insects (e.g. wasps and termites) and reptiles (e.g. snakes and turtles).

The urge to prepare an area for the building of a nest is referred to as the nesting instinct and may occur in both mammals and birds."

I have found, being so sick as of late, that I am in some form of nesting pattern myself.

I want to gather myself in a place of refuge... protected from all the elements and the world outside. I want to be safe, warm and happy... and watch the world from a distant perch...



(photo by Elaine A. Russell)

the quail are coming ...

--------------------------------------------photo by Elaine A. Russell

When we first moved here... our yard was a mess. There were 13 dead trees on this very small plot of property, tons of dead turf, and rock.

Now, while it would be arguable that we have done anything to improve the landscaping... we have naturalized it so to speak. We took everything that was dead out... and slowly have raked and spread the dust and dirt around to minimize the prickly stuff ( goatheads, prickers, oh my.. ).

Over the years several of our neighbors have pulled up all their cacti.. and rather than see them thrown in the trash, we have a "cactus garden" of sorts just over our wall and into the arroyo behind us.

Now we have a regular little sanctuary out there. It is amazing to watch. We have tons of jackrabbits, a Coyote that has built(dug) his den there, a great horned owl that comes to our cottonwoods at night, and today I saw 20 !!! (yes 20)... California Quail nesting in the bushes out back. I have seen them over the past 2 years cut through our yard... but I didn't realize they had been nesting (and apparently re-producing) so well back here.

I tried to take their photograph... but the little buggers move pretty quickly.