Birds take the brunt

I was just cleaning up the yard, raking up fallen branches and cleaning out the planting beds when I came across the huge weird clump of stuff. It took me a minute to realize it was a bird's nest: an interesting combination of leaves, branches, the funny pages and some cottony bits. (I think the cottony bits came from Roxy's, the dog next door, torn-apart stuffed toys that are strewn around their backyard.) Anyway, the nest smelled funny -- a little like dirty socks -- and had wee spiders crawling through it.

Anyway, I wasn't really sure what to do with it. Should I leave it so the birds can salvage their building materials for a new nest? Were there eggs in there? (No.) Would they be returning at all? I decided to go ahead and put it in the garden bin with branches and things, as it was a pretty damp, mildewy mass of a bird home.

I don't think birds faired very well in the recent windstorm. I hope they've been able to rebuild elsewhere.