Building a future

If you've read enough of my posts, you might remember our backyard friend Dale, the Pheasant, who succumbed to nature's wrath last spring. We found his feathers in the back 40. When that happened, we scooped some up and put them in a ziploc bag in order to preserve his memory.

I've been intently watching our Tree Swallow friends building their nest, a little too slow for my taste but they must have a reason for the pace they are keeping. While waiting for the bus on Wednesday morning, I brought Dale's feathers out with me. No sense letting the bag get dusty on the shelf while the Swallows are antagonizing me with their sluggish behavior. I waived one in the air over my head and immediately perked Ms.Swallow's attention. I tossed it into the air current and it was dragged up higher, and higher and as I watched the feather was snatched out of the air by Ms. Swallow. She made a few big loops over the yard and darted into the box to position it perfectly in the cup of twigs and grass. We did this a few times before the bus came.

The next morning we went out and this time, it was Monkey's turn. He too wafted the feather over his head and once he had her attention he let it loose. She was there in an instant to pluck the feather from the breeze and bring it to her new home - but these were a little bigger and she had a hard time getting into the hole! A few tries and she had it. We have now officially run out of feathers, but I'm sure she has enough to make her babies comfy and warm.

It was a surreal experience to bond with my new backyard guests. I'll have to stock up on feathers for next spring too. ♥