The Answer… and Bush Babe to the rescue!
In the past, we have had willy wagtail nests in the laundry of Granite Glen. The laundry is very old, semi-open and seperate from the main house. These delightful little black-and-white birds seem to like it there, as they are relatively unafraid of humans and it provides an ideal shelter from other predators. This particular nest is perched precariously atop the pipe taking the electrical cable from the laundry to the house (or vice versa?).
This is Mrs (or Mr?) Wagtail keeping an eye on me. Let’s assume it’s the Mum. I’m sure someone out there can identify the male and female of the species, because David Attenborough, I ain’t. Anyway, she is a bit concerned and twittering at me, as I have been pointing something black and strange at her nest. She hasn’t debunked completely as nothing terrible seems to have happened, but she is nervous.
So she swoops in to check on the contents of her tiny nest. To put it in perspective, she is a bit smaller that the size of a woman’s fist, and has eggs the size of thumbnails. As Dash would say: Cute as!
…
We have been checking the comings and goings of our new neighbours for a few days, then yesterday, I noticed something happening…
something that falls into the “not good” department.
The nest was definitely leaning more sharply to the side.
Whatever new weight or movement in there was causing problems in the engineering… Ack! I held TLW aloft to check in the nest, and she reported that there was an egg (or two, she couldn’t be sure!).
So I did what any self-respecting pseudo-bushie/ex-city girl/soft touch would do…
I grabbed the sticky tape dispenser.
There. Just call me Mother Nature.
Heh.
OK, It’s not the neatest job in the world, but I’m hoping it’ll do the trick and hold things in place long enough for the job at hand. And I’m also hoping Mrs Wagtail will overlook the new scaffolding of her nest, and sit atop her precious eggs (however many there are!).
Pray tell, what on earth is going on down there???
Hmmmm… something looks different here…
That strange human has been scratching around here and she is is still looking… there will be trouble if anything is missing here!
Everyone OK in there? One, two… hmmm.
I’m keeping an eye on you, strange human creature!
Thank goodness..
That’ll be Ms Nature to you.
Heh.
11 Comments
Pencil Writer
Great post! Love the nature of nature stories. Great Save there, BB! I’m sure the wag-tail family are most appreciative!osmnaa
Leslie
You made my day! 🙂
Debby
You didn’t mention it, but BB, I see gratitude, true gratitude in the mama bird’s eyes. I’ll bet she drops a little gift off for you the next time she flies over….
Andrea
Whuahhahaha! You crack me up!! I love the tape on the nest! It would have been perfect with some duct tape!! LOL! The all time fix it tape!! LOL
Oh, and my mom is in Australia for four weeks!! She is so lucky!!
Jayne
LMFAO
That is a classic, BB!
Wrensong Farm
I have always LOVED the name Willy Wagtail and now I can put it with an image….and a great one at that! Great job, Ms. Nature! You’ve made other wildlife fans proud!!
Jenni
A proper redneck (or any man) would have used duct tape on that! You still win a Good Samaritan award though:o)
gingela5
Cute pictures! Glad you were able to save the day! Found you by way of the pioneer woman!
I'm Julie
Willy Wagtail… Willy Wagtail…
Goodness that is fun to say..
willywagtailwillywagtailwillywagtail..
Does anyone else have that stuck in their heads? Are you all saying it over and over again until your entire family is ready to throw you in the looney bin? Or it is possible I have not had enough caffiene today?
hee hee – great post, as always, Bush Babe!
Bush Babe
Julie – go grab a starbucks dear! (Actually you look like you already have one in your pic! Heh). And yes, those kinda things get stuck in my head all the time. Kook-o-burr-o is another (my kids pronunciation!).
Gingela5 – welcome to the madness of Granite Glen!! You may need a coffee to cope with us all…
Jenni – my thoughts were that it needed to be as invisible as possible… duct tape may have sent Mrs WWT into hysterics!
WF – thanks *bows* (For the record, I have no idea what I am doing in the wildlife assistance dept!)
PW, Jayne & Leslie – pleased it tickled you! I was so proud of myself it hurt!
Andrea – tee hee. Hope your Mum has a blast here. Tell her to wear a hat – our sun hurts like heck!
Debby – you are too funny for words. "gifts" abound at GG. That's why my roses look so good!!
Glad to have provided some light-hearted distraction… stay tuned. Something MORE shortly…
Hugs
BB
dykewife
i’m sure that if ms bird knew what you did she’d appreciate it. afterall, you saved her progeny that very first step. it’s a doozy.