Of blackbirds, nests, and parasitic cuckoos

Today I saw a lady blackbird with a large twig in her mouth and I thought of her nest, under construction somewhere nearby, well out of the prying eyes of potential predators and disguised perfectly to blend in with the background.

Yet had I did not already known that birds make nests to lay eggs and rear their young, I could have been somewhat mystified as to the reason for the bird's burden, perhaps imagining erroneously that the twig was for another purpose. It may have taken some hours - maybe even days - of observation, to ascertain what exactly she was up to.

Our current world situation is comparable - although working on a far greater time scale. All around us we see the twiglets of "change": the development of the "old third world", the imposition of a new European order, the economic collapse of America (and her knock on effects), the fight against "global warming".



















cheers