There are a few things about nest boxes that continue to elude me, even after all these years. Like, Why are plastic nest boxes so darned Evil? Or, Why are clean nest boxes Evil, but nasty, poop-covered nest boxes are happy, joyous places to be? Just when I thought that there was nothing new to learn about nest boxes, I went and learned something new.

It turns out that nest boxes are Pure Magic — the old, familiar, poop-covered boxes, that is. You see, despite all the busy nest building that has been going on for the past few months, when I switched the old ones out yesterday for clean, new ones, ALL BUT ONE WAS EMPTY. Well, empty except for crusty dried poop, but we won't go there.

Cinnamon and Ginger's nest box (and sometimes Wasabi [Peas]) was filled very prettily with grass and raffia and a bit of poop. But Szechwan (Pepper) and Cassia's box, which I expected to be filled to the brim with nest squeezin's, was empty (except for poop), as was Earl Grey and Oolong's (and sometimes Wasabi [Peas]). It seems that all the work that Szechwan (Pepper) and Earl Grey put into building their nests got stolen by Cinnamon (and sometimes Wasabi [Peas]). Mind you, Earl Grey and Szechwan (Pepper) (and sometimes Wasabi [Peas]) stole a lot of it back, but clearly it all ENDED UP in that one nest box.

The thing is, Cinnamon and Ginger's nest box (and sometimes Wasabi [Peas]) was only half full. Where did all the bits of old sock, and all the raffia, and all the timothy hay that the birds carried into those boxes go? And what about all the dill?!? There was no dill in any box!

I say that the Finsters are studying alchemy, and one day I'll find a tiny gold nugget hidden amongst all the crusty dried poop. Bruce says the nest boxes are portals into another dimension. Only time will tell.

Here are a few more pictures of Finsters in the old, poop-covered (and filled) nest boxes, taken a few days ago. First, we have Earl Grey sitting in Cinnamon and Ginger's nest box (and sometimes Wasabi [Peas]). I suppose you'll have to take my word for the ownership on this one. But trust me, Earl Grey is not in his own box, nor is he stealing anything from anyone else's box. Instead, he's sitting calmly inside, probably thinking something like "Hey, this is nice with all this grass and stuff inside. Why doesn't my nest box look like this?" Here's a big picture of Earl Grey in somebody else's nest box, looking very stern (pops).

Next is a lucky snapshot of Szechwan (Pepper) darting out of his nest box — empty, as it turns out, of anything but dried poop. You can also see Oolong (Of The Ears) sitting on top of the box, looking surprisingly like a head-on-a-stick.