Plant of the Month

Plant of the Month: July 2023

Nests

Nests of various animals and insects are encountered commonly in my many visits to client gardens in Seattle, though over the years I photographed few --because plants interest me far more.

The largest seen often, are crow nests and squirrel nests, sturdy and well wedged, which I have removed from trees. They are usually high, though one crow nest was remarkably only 8 feet from the ground.

In Seattle, the most commonly noticed nests include those of birds such as robins (bowl-like) and bushtits (sock-like). Such birds are common and nest in low places. Hummingbird nests are miniature works of art, much harder to spot. Once mallard ducks nested in a residential garden I maintain.

Rat and squirrel nests can stink. They can be built very carefully, with diverse materials, both natural and manmade. Besides twigs, these rodents may use tinsel, yarn, felt, and cloth. Removing their nests from trees can be time consuming and messy. I love evicting squirrels. I leave crows alone --mostly-- because otherwise they will haunt me.

One day I was using a hose to do watering and heard odd squeaking noises. Looking closer I discovered that my action had revealed wet, fresh born rabbits.

Wasp, yellowjacket and hornet nests are fearsome. Once, while pruning a tree, I dropped a cut branch that just so happened to slam into such a nest. The angry insects then began stinging me, causing me to run for two blocks, and flee into a building. As I stood inside the glass door, smashing insects on my person, others glared at me from the outside of the glass. I had to sneak out the back side of the building, creep back to the job site, and informed my assistant, "I cannot finish this job; you must."

One summer, a house window was left open so long that mud-dauber wasps built nests on one side, so the window could not be closed fully.

A few Seattle residents have bald eagles nesting in their trees. Those nests are enormous. Herons can make a noisy fuss and major mess of droppings, but I have not seen them in peoples yards. A pair of Ospreys nest atop a tall UW lightpole (reported fully by Larry Hubbel in his Union Bay Watch blog). Raccoons can be found living in hollow bigleaf maples on private property.

Coyotes seem to move around so much, that their "nests" are more like places they cuddle together than anything more elaborate. So there is little to photograph.

Some creatures thrive in cities with people; some suffer. It is similar with plant life. All life forms, including humans, are getting hurt by excessive UV light reaching earth these days. The current establishment propaganda about carbon dioxide being harmful is bandied about ceaselessly, while accurate news about true threats are censored. I learned in 5th grade that plants take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen, via photosynthesis. Greenhouse crop producers obtain higher yields if they pump in carbon dioxide. Globalists trying to hurt people and crash society, manipulate the weather and lie via politicians such as John Kerry and mainstream media. Just like they lie in other realms . . . "free and fair elections," "safe and effective vaccines," "secure borders," and "there is no censorship."

Here is the best website on weather manipulation: www.GeoengineeringWatch.org Study its content to learn the ugly truth. Another excellent source about the global climate and weather are weekly podcasts by David Dubyne; Adapt 2030. Dubyne's podcasts are posted on numerous platforms.

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