It's day eight of the Swarovski Optik Guest Blogging Contest. Today's entry comes from Jeffrey Gordon with a much-needed post for mid-winter: spring cleaning!

For more of Jeff's writing, you can visit his blog.

I'm fortunate to live in Lewes, Delaware, which just happens to be the northermost place in the world you can see Brown-headed Nuthatches. These little clowns are pretty much addicted to pines, so that's where you have to go to listen for their squeaky, animated calls.

Brown-headed Nuthatches are also very much homebodies, rarely if ever traveling far from their home patch. So much so that even though I can find them just about any day of the year, only once in recorded history has one made the trek across to Cape May, New Jersey, just 11 miles across the mouth of Delaware Bay.

In fact, Brown-headed Nuthatches are very nearly a United States endemic, ranging from East Texas across to Florida and up to Delaware. Their only non-U.S. outpost is a small and threatened population on the Bahamas.

As winter begins to loosen its grip, our nuthatches begin preparing to breed. I digiscoped this Brown-headed Nuthatch doing a little spring cleaning. You'll see her (or possibly him--I'm not sure) go into the cavity, then return with several mouthfuls of sawdust.

If you're thinking about doing a little Spring cleaning, but the thought seems just too oppressive, perhaps you can borrow a little inspiration from these nuthatches. And be thankful that you don't have to clear out your junk using your mouth!

Check back in tomorrow for our next entry!