Early in the morning I got to this parking area by the lake with coffee to watch birds. There is this guy who drives up with his german shepherd dog trailing behind the car. He brings the dog there to go "to the toilet". He never even gets out of his car and when the dog is done he just opens up the driver side door and tells the dog tot get in. He never ever picks up the dog pile. 
One of things I love to do there is watch the various swallows. I think their flight patterns are really neat. Well to my amazement I have seen Bank Swallows land on this fresh warm new dog pile and poke their beaks into it and they did so again today. There they are just perching on it momentarily. I am glad everything can be recycled and of use on this planet but it is almost too much to bear when I see this, lol. It is hard for me to see it that way....I think of body waste (anyones) as potential transmittors of disease.
I was wondering why they do that though....is it food for them?! Are they using it for nest material I wonder....it is useful when dried perhaps?!
I feel like posting a tiny flag on the dog pile with "warning" to birds in bird language for what it is....hehe....
* laughs like crow, soars like eagle with vision of hawk, haunts like loon & lulls like nuthatch ....tickle tickle, feather has most powerful medicine of all...makes you laugh *
