STRANDS FOR THE NESTS by Betty Howatt 
     
    
   
   
    
     In May of 1992, due to chemotherapy following surgery, I lost all of my 
     
     hair in a very short period. Rather than throwing it away I decided to make 
     
     use of it. 
     
    
   
   
    
     I remembered some small birds 
     
     pulling at a string mop trying to get 
     
     fibre for their nests. So with the help 
     
     of my older grandson, Jeremy Lawlor, we 
     
     spread the hair in various places. Jeremy 
     
     took some down to the currant and 
     
     gooseberry bushes for the hummingbirds and 
     
     Song Sparrows. The former nest in the 
     
     bushes, the latter in the mulch 
     
     underneath. Then he left some in the 
     
     raspberry canes for the yellow warblers 
     
     and purple finches. I dropped some in the 
     
     willows around the house yard for the 
     
     chickadees and on the spruce hedge for the 
     
     robins and blackbirds to find. 
     
    

    
     Did the birds use any? We don't know, but at least it was a better 
     
     ending for the hair than putting it in the garbage. There are other strange 
     
     nest linings around our farm, particularly for a very busy red squirrel. We 
     
     had an Island flag on a pole above our old black willow. The flag had become 
     
     quite tattered and during one very windy session entangled itself around the 
     
     halyards. The squirrel took advantage of it being tied down and on several 
     
     occasions spent quite a bit of time tearing shreds off the flag and carrying 
     
     them away. The best part for me was the enjoyment my younger grandson 
     
     Jonathan had, and the way he laughed while watching the antics of the 
     
     squirrel. 
     
    

    
     In July 1992, Jeremy had an interesting sighting of an adult bald eagle 
     
     while he (Jeremy) was doing his stint in early evening at the weighing table 
     
     in our U-pick strawberry field. The table was at the top of the field, near 
     
     the road which is lined with trees. The Tryon River, at the bottom of the 
     
     field, is in the fishing area for a family of ospreys; we see them often 
     
     pulling fish from the water there. 
     
    

    
     The eagle landed in the trees, just a 
     
     few feet from Jeremy. Then one of the ospreys 
     
     appeared and harassed the eagle until it flew 
     
     off at tree level and disappeared over the 
     
     hedge to the south. 
     
    

    
     These notes are being written in January 
     
     1993. On the 14th of this month my husband 
     
     and I were driving on the Trans-Canada toward 
     
     Crapaud. A bald eagle flew low over the highway in front of us, so we pulled 
     
     over and watched as it went, chased by a number of crows, into a small grove of 
     
     trees. 
     
    

    
     On one occasion Everett watched one flying just at tree level along the 
     
     hedge behind our garden and down to the river, but usually we sight them at some 
     
     distance so it gave us a great deal of pleasure to see the one so close at hand 
     
     on the 14th.