A Nightmare... of Sorts

Think "Soylent Green", "A Scanner Darkly", or a similarly dark last-second plot twist. Thus I call this dream a nightmare "... of sorts". A lesser reason: I had binoculars. Being able to zoom in on birds without binoculars, as I usually do in these dreams, rocks! Let this not become a trend. 

The dream found me walking out the backdoor of a strip-mall store. Presumably this was my place of employment. There I find a small field about an acre in size, dotted with various shrubs. The sun shone brightly, at an early morning angle. 

Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides)

Image online here

There was passerine activity in nearby shrubs. I couldn't resist investigating.  What work?!?! The first bird I find is a winner; a female Mountain Bluebird. The second, a Blue Jay. The third, a female Yellow Warbler.
 

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)

Image online here

Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia)

Image online here

The last bird I was flitting about in an adjacent small tree. It turned out to be an Oak Titmouse. Within seconds, the bird stopped moving within the middle branches. Not really noteworthy, at first. A few more seconds later it was still a birdcicle. I took a closer look, and moved my hand to touch it - nothing. I look closer. The scene looked like a museum diorama; in a word - creepy.  

Oak Titmouse (Baeolophus inornatus)

Image online here

To my shock, the bird had transmogrified into a larger-than-life-sized stuffed animal; similar to those cute "Audubon" critters. I pick up the plush bird and brought it back into the building to show my coworkers. Inside, I see the back room has several bins filled with stuffed toys of various bird species. One contains scores of... Oak Titmouse. 


...Noooooooooooooooooo!