If you think you can dig around the drip line of the 'Bird's Nest' (I imagine) Spruce, slide it onto a tarp and transport it into a prepared new resting place, then I think it could be done. Fall just before going into dormancy would be best. I think the bigger question is whether you can grow hosta in zone 1b. Most hosta list USDA zone 3 as the coldest recommended. Do you know of anyone doing this? I think it would be hard to do if a USDA zone 1....or is 1b that Canadian system? Pictures, a measured size and transferring the question to the conifers forum would get a more expert answer on the relocation. Jon

I took a look at the nest cams and was amazed at how early they're nesting, thinking they were in the Cornell NY vicinity - then I noticed the nest locations, CA, KY, TX, AZ ... The titmice (titmouses?) keep peering at the camera, but it doesn't seem to scare them. Around here the birds are beginning to flirt and show interest in the opposite sex. The male cardinals no longer chase the female cardinals away from the feeders, and I've actually seen two downy woodpeckers (male and female) at the same time. Unheard of all winter. Two crows were circling over head this morning, one of them with something in its mouth, and making non-cawing calls. I got the impression one had a gift for the other. Breeding plumage is emerging: the goldfinchs are getting yellower, and all of the birds are brighter. No flowers yet, but a few daffodil buds are peeking up. We'll probably have a few more freezes, but we're definitely over the hill. Claire

There are some birds that lay their eggs in another birds nest. The Cuckoo, Cowbird, Whyda, Honeyguide and Black-headed Duck come to mind. "These birds, called brood parasites, lay their eggs in another bird's nest and let the other bird parents feed and raise their chicks. The "egg abandoner" is then free to mate again and lay more eggs in another nest. The cuckoo is the best known brood parasite and an expert in the art of cruel deception. Its strategy involves stealth, surprise and speed. The mother removes one egg laid by the host mother, lays her own and flies off with the host egg in her bill. The whole process takes barely ten seconds. Cuckoos parasitize the nests of a large variety of bird species and carefully mimic the colour and pattern of their own eggs to match that of their hosts. Each female cuckoo specializes on one particular host species. How the cuckoo manages to lay eggs to imitate each host's eggs so accurately is one of nature's main mysteries."

Lydia 1959...As far as it's known, from decades of research by the PMCA and other organizations, the Purple Martins in the eastern half of the U.S. nest only in man-made cavities, and near human activity. Since the times before Columbus they have "imprinted" on humans. The eastern Native Americans lured them to their villages and gardens by setting natural gourds on sticks and dead trees. They knew when the Purple Martins were near, the flying insects were kept at bay. There is a small scattering of PMs on the west coast, and they seem to be nesting in single family groups around piers. There was a lot of excitement when a colony was discovered nesting in drainage pipes under highway overpasses around the Sacramento area. Still, for the vase majority of the Purple Martins, and the entire eastern population, it's man made housing. You can see the problem since fewer and fewer people are offering, and safely managing, housing for them. The PMs, along with our native blue birds, started declining in the 1950s and were fast approaching endangered status. The main causes were lack of housing being offered to them, loss of wooden fence posts in the case of the blue birds, and the explosion of the imported, non-native English House Sparrow that will kill/destroy any cavity nester, its eggs and its chicks, that it can find...PMs, bluebirds, chickadees, woodpeckers, nuthatches, etc. all fall prey to these non-natives. So, loss of habitat, explosive numbers of non-native competitors, and a lack of well-managed housing not being offered is the main culprits of the decline of our native cavity nesters. I wish you could come visit. I sit under the feeder tree each morning with my tea and listen to the beautiful chatter, chortles, and songs of the PMs. They're here for such a short time, but I try to enjoy them enough to last the rest of the year. They travel to and from southern Brazil each year to raise their families. They come back to the same colony each year. They are magical!