Spring is pushing faster than you can watch it. Today I noticed that the Carolina chickadees and tufted titmice (mouses?) are already gathering nesting materials. Seems like this should take place later in the month, but who am I to argue? Chickadees and their close cousins the titmice like to line their nests with soft material. They will pick up dandelion or milkweed floss if they can find it, but they really prefer fur. I have seen a titmouse pick fur from roadkill. Today I watched a chickadee denude the tennis ball that my dog left out in the yard. She (the hens do the nest building) stood on top of the ball, yanking off bits of fluff until she had a beakfull. She flew off to her nesting hole, an old woodpecker drill site in a dead branch. A few minutes later she was back. I gotta brush the cats.
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