Out on a Limb

As the cold weather approaches, I'm noticing some impressive nest-building in the park. Here's an exceptionally fine speciman--luxurious and comfy-looking, and becoming more spacious every day:


The nest below deserves honorable mention for having survived the winds of winter (and the winds of summer I might add, as we've been having very strong winds over the summer, likely due to El Niño, that have actually destroyed my living room blinds.)
When I first saw this nest last fall I thought it was laughable if it wasn't so dangerous, being so far out on that limb! I imagined the weight of all those little squirrel bodies huddled in it, and thought all it needed was one strong wind...one blinding snowstorm...
Luckily, I turned out to be wrong. It survived very nicely! If you look toward the end of the long limb you can see the nest with the red circle around it -- a marvel of squirrel engineering! Who knew?