An Urban Bird Nest

I spotted this nest in a small weed tree along the Park Avenue driveway into Municipal Lot 7. A closer look revealed that it is made not just of twigs and grasses, but also bits of plastic litter.

Lot 7 was thoroughly cleaned about a week ago, but the prevailing winds have again blown plastic bags, paper, food wrappings and all the other usual urban debris into the fence at the rear of the parking lot.

Maria and I have been talking about litter and recycling a lot lately. Personally, I think litter pick-ups are something I would like to see obsolete, but so far urban life provides plenty of need for pickups. Maria regularly cleans her block and neighborhood. My neighbor and I used to pick up litter in the front yard, but quit in protest over numerous rent increases matched with cuts in services. We still patrol the back yard and gardens, where debris wings its way in from East Seventh Street.

We have lots of avian visitors in the middle of Block 832 but I seldom see nests. How sad to think that a small nest-builder around here has to resort to picking up trash to make a home. Maybe it is a perverse form of recycling.

For humans, a recycling destination is nearby in Fanwood. I hope soon to post a full article on the Fanwood Recycling Center along with pictures I took on one of our bloggers' "field trips," but meanwhile check this web site.

--Bernice Paglia