Beware - may be frightening!

Take care when viewing this first photo. You might not want to let little children see it unattended!

A couple weeks ago when Courtney was here, I was busy with something in the house, so she went out to visit the kitties by herself. She didn't stay out there very long (even though I'd told her I'd be out there "soon"). When she came back, she told me she'd seen a nest that had a face!

I asked her where this nest was, and she said it was way up high by the ceiling. I thought it sounded pretty intriguing, so we headed back out to the machine shed to take a look.

She sort of pointed it out to me, but she wouldn't look directly at it. It seemed to be too scary to look at!

I finally saw what she'd seen! A nest with a "face", indeed! Can you see it?

Pretty wicked-looking, huh?!

I assured her that it was nothing but an empty barn swallow nest, and that it only looked like a face. So she was able to then look at it a little closer herself. It also helped that a barn swallow landed in it for a few seconds. That was even more reassuring.

All in the eye of the beholder. :)

On another odd bird note, look what I found in the birdbath one day:

(Excuse the grossness of the bath. I've given up trying to keep it clean. I just scrub it with a steel brush occasionally when I change the water, and call it good. I did bleach it before I put it outside this spring, but that cleanliness didn't last long.)

It's a robin's eggshell. Have a closer look:

I wonder why. Weird.