In Which I Explain the Blog Name, and Wax About Red-Tailed Hawks

Why name the blog The Mossy Nest? I wanted a cosy name, something that intimated small, quiet, warm, with a crackling fireplace and footstools. Somewhere you could settle down and visit a while, with no pressures, and leave feeling refreshed and happier. I had no idea how hard it would be to come up with a good name, especially when everyone in the universe is already blogging and has come up with really creative names.

I was watching Nature on PBS Sunday night, which was a new episode about Hummingbirds (and I heartily recommend you watch it, either on TV or online), and the words "the mossy nest" came up. Perfect, thought I. It immediately brought to mind The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, which I remember from my days at the PW Bookstore and always wanted to own. A pale green background, with a colored pen and ink drawing of a cosy little nest, with an egg or two. And so Mossy was born.

This morning on my way to work, a small flock of 5 or 6 red-tailed hawks flew alongside Big Red. We usually have a resident pair at the office, and their fledglings every year, but these were all adults. I've never seen so many red tail adults flying along at once, nor had my coworker, driving behind me (also gawking at them, as he is married to a master birder).

As for the hummingird Nature episode, it is full of incredibly beautiful images of these gorgeous feathered creatures. But I was stupified not by all that colorful plumage, but the few seconds of time-lapse infrared photography of a hummingbird at night, sleeping, its core temperature dropping. Amazing. The Nerdy Scientist was fascinated.

It is appropriate that the first real post at the Mossy Nest include something bird-related.