By KAREN MADORIN
For Kansans eager to see bright blooms, more sunlight, and green leaves, dull-toned winter days linger forever. Instead of complaining, invite friends to turn these last weeks before Spring delivers new growth into a mystery nest hunt. Investigators, slip into a Columbo jacket and wander the neighborhood. As Mother Nature works her magic turning last year’s now brown leaves into fertile soil, nosy folks cantake advantage of bare branches to see what creatures raised young in them last season. Scope trees and bushes from top to bottom to spy varying nest shapes and sizes, evidence of last year’s feathered and furry residents.
Detecting an oriole nest in western Kansas is almost a given. These loosely woven sacks the size of a first grader’s sock dangle from upper branches along creeks, streams, lakes, in yards, and parks. Seeing these unique nests triggers memories of vivid orange and black parents catching insects in flight and regurgitating them into noisy off-springs’ wide-open gullets. Mother Nature, by design, rocks their cradle.
Robin nests are another sure bet. A nearby tree or perhaps the same one, if large enough, might house one or two tattered cereal bowl-sized nests tucked between forking branches. Typically, Kansas weather takes its toll on these flimsy structures so every year these orange-breasted singers weavegrasses, leaves, pet fur, strings, and other fluff into new nurseries for between one and three families per summer.
Mississippi kite nests aren’t quite as common, but anyone who lives near a kite nursery knows now’s the time to search for last summer’s nests before those aggressive birds return. Once trees leaf out, the best way to discover where kites raise young means surviving a frantic dive bombing. It’s much saferto scope out potential kite nests before those birds return.
Sleuths willing to head for the edges of town or into the countryside have a chance to spyplatforms built of stacked branches in the upper reaches of mature trees. Lucky observers will note the protruding headgear of a great horned owl protecting eggs or owlets while its mate flies nearby lookingfor small game to feed the hungry family. Once you find an owl nest, it’s worth revisiting each year to see if that raptor returned to raise another family.
Checking trees is an obvious tactic, but don’t forget to search bushes and shrubs everywhere you go. Some creatures tuck tidy and untidy nurseries into low-lying thickets. When we lived in the country, brown thrashers raised young in our lilac and plum thickets every summer. Visit after the babies hatch towatch mom and dad zip around, snagging insects to feed their young.
Speaking of low-lying nests, scout for pack rat condominiums haphazardly constructed at the base of trees along waterways. Dormant plants make it much easier to detect these chaoticallyconstructed homesteads.
Squirrels add another nest building rodent to the search. Messy basketball-sized collections of leaves, grasses, and small twigs stuffed in the forks of high branches make people wonder what bird made that nest? That conglomeration likely housed a family of furry, scampering babies.
While bright colors please human senses, drab, leafless, winter months make it easier to find last season’s nests. That’s a win for nature detectives looking for a chance to enjoy outdoor adventures.