Thursday, April 03, 2008

The Circle of Life, or...

One Woman's Drudgery is another Woman's Home.

You know the drill:

Shop for clothes.
Wear clothes.
Put clothes in clothes hamper.
Tote clothes from hamper to the washer.
Switch clothes from washer to the drier.
Clean out lint trap.

Occasionally clean out outside drier exhaust vent.

(The small square embedded in the brick is the external drier vent.)

Add one mockingbird to the mix, and you get....

A nest of twigs....

lined with the ever useful soft and downy perfect for baby DRIER LINT!

(If it had been me building that nest I would have used the lint from the red load of laundry.
But maybe the grey lint is a better choice if you don't want your nest to get noticed. Or maybe gray is just the IN color in nest decore this year...)



It is nesting time around here, and every house seems to have a mockingbird swooping through the trees and bushes.
The tree by our driveway, (conveniently growing right in front of the drier vent) always hosts a nest each spring. I'm so happy to see the nest back, refreshed and in service!

I am especially glad that we can see the nest from our breakfast nook window.

And I am double especially glad the birds are even tempered Texas Mockingbirds instead of the hot tempered California Mockingbirds, who all act like West Coast Drama Queens when it comes to nesting time.

San Diego Mockingbird will attack you from behind, whacking you with their wings and leaving a lump on your head to remind you to stay away from their tree.
The Texas Mockers will attack but generally don't do any whack attacks.
We'll give them plenty of space anyway.
Can't wait to see the baby birds in a couple of weeks.

Ah...the circle of life.
Doesn't it give laundry day a whole new meaning?
Clothes driers: Good for you, and good for the local ecosystem!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your posts always make me smile! The Florida mockingbirds are a bit like the ones in Texas. They're a bit vocal, and sometimes are even stupid enough to chase a red hawk!

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

Having been "yelled" at and dive bombed by more than one California Mocking Bird in my time, I'm glad to hear that the Texas variety is not quite so violent!! And obviously the Texas Mocking Bird also knows a good thing when he/she sees it....great use of drier lint!

Jane Carlstrom said...

Oh now that is cool. Brightened my day, even with the gray dryer lint.

Anonymous said...

We have a set of Dramatic California Mocking birds making their nest in a shrub in our front yard, very fascinating to neighborhood cats, who are always watching and waiting. The cats are getting quite a few pecks on the tail, but they still come back. Enjoyed reading about your Texas birds. great pictures too. Love, momS.

Kate said...

Of course grey coordinates with the Mockingbird's outfits n'est pas? K Q;-)

L&D said...

Haven't you heard? Grey is the new black!
You have some stylish birds around you. Hmmmmmmm. I think your personal fashionista style is rubbing of on the birdies by way of strange osmosis. When they start wearing little birdie hats we know there is a problem.

Lovella ♥ said...

Jill, this is great, we have serious nesting happening here too. Every morning the crows are in the process of dismantling the birch tree for their nests.
I was watching a little finch this morning out of my back window popping in and out of the hedge. It is quite fun to watch.