The cardinals are building a nest. In addition to the tried and true stick/leaf combination, this pair has added an old plastic bag. They don't know what I know - plastic in a nest contributes to a lack of stability. The nest could be blown from the tree in a storm. Every spring I see lost eggs - and worse - hatchlings, because their nest included manmade materials. Should I pull out the plastic and monitor the yard for unsuitable bits of trash? I feel a responsibility to these creatures who can't know the peril they're courting. Or is it a path I shouldn't travel? Am I meddling when I intervene with Nature? Or am I stewarding?
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11 comments:
suggest you let nature take its course without touching the nest. Is there a way to shield the tree from prevailing winds?
Since we humans have created the peril, I'd be very tempted to remove the plastic and leave bits of cotton strips nearby for replacement. An interesting conundrum, Jane. Let us know what you decide to do.
Susie
Jane, very tough decision......I see both point in the previous posts. Nature does seem to deal with life situations much more sanely than we humans do, maybe they will deal with it on their own....I love the way that you care. Cardinals are so very special in their beauty and monogomous (sp?) lifestyle...a rare find, it seems in the world today. Positive energy to you, Sondra
Share your decision with us, please.
Yes, do let us know what you do about this. My reaction would be to want to fix the situation however I could, but I'm also a strong believer that nature takes care of itself better than we can.
Very Matisse-like image, lots going on. The birds may have made a poor choice for life, but they have great taste--just saw a cardinal in Virginia the other day. Of course we don't have them in Nevada, so it was a treat!!! I'm sorry about your conundrum always difficult to know how to interfere with nature. Back to the image, the clean colors are lovely, the blue/green framing from almost all sides, nice branches to move us around and settle each time in the next. Off to Nebraska tomorrow, best thoughts on dealing with cardinals.
JANE --
It's a tough decision -- I'm in favor of letting nature take its course as long as we're talking about natural materials. A plastic bag doesn't fit into the equation. I would be inclined to remove the plastic as long as they're still in the building mode. It really bothers me as well to see eggs that have fallen from their nest or babies that fall out because of instability. We have a mockingbird that fell from the nest and was fed by its mother on the ground - two years later that bird still hangs around us -- I think we somehow imprinted!
Diane
I "judge" myself by what I "do" --- so minimising the amount of man-made "debris stuff" in the area I live in is my action. That allows me to feel that I have handed control back to "Mother Nature" --- I rely on her (or His) wisdom - even if I don't immediately see the rationale. !!
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Jane
maybe you answered your own question yesterday
"Therefore the Master remains
serene in the midst of sorrow.
Evil cannot enter her heart.
**************
Because she has given up helping,
she is the people's greatest help.
********************
Fay
Jane,
We have meddled to create the problem, so I see no problem meddling to fix the problem if they are still building.
Hello Jane.
I would also suggest not touching the nest. When you get a chance you should take a look at a recently published book, "Egg & Nest" by Rosamond Purcell. There are some incredible examples of nests made with string, plastic, yarn, straws..just about anything that's been discarded in our trash bins. It's a sad comment on our society, but birds are amazingly adaptive. The survival of the fittest indeed.
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