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Now that’s a Serious Crow’s Nest

Feathered family turns sailing yacht’s mast platform into temporary new home.

Crows build nest on yacht mast

Crows built this nest in the spot where a sailing yacht mast typically has a, um, crow’s nest. Courtesy BBC News

Back in the day before full-on electronics suites, there were barrels and baskets lashed to a ship’s tallest mast. Crew members would climb to the highest possible point, strap themselves inside, and stand lookout for everything from the blow of a whale to channel entrances.

Today, we call this platform for a masthead lookout a crow’s nest, and most often it sits idle while our eyes are glued to our radar screens. But a crow’s nest is still a great spot to hang out—something that a family of crows recently took advantage of at Aberystwyth Marina in England.

A sailing yacht that had sat idle for a few weeks at the marina caught the eye of the crows, which built their nest atop the mast, using the boat’s aerial platform as the base. The nest has withstood recent high winds, and the baby crows seem to be growing up happy and securely.

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“There are 50-odd boats in the marina, and they’ve chosen mine to build on,” owner Nick Fothergill told BBC News. “I’m happy for them to raise their family on my boat.”

Fothergill did add that as soon as the babies take off, he plans to remove the debris—for fear of being laughed at for having a true crow’s nest atop his boat.

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