Inspiration...

Yesterday I noticed three bird nests in precarious places in my garden. The first nest is fairly low to the ground in the lemon tree and now has downy baby birds in it. The second is, again, low to the ground against the potting shed balanced on the rose trellis and last time I looked there were eggs in it. The third nest is woven among some silk flowers I had placed in a copper wall pocket hanging on the side of the gift shop. I had to stand on a ladder to see in the nest and there are eggs in this one too. I worry about the ones low to the ground because I have a garden cat. When the babies are ready to fledge I will keep my cat indoors. The copper wall pocket nest is hung with one nail and swings in the wind - sometimes we get some heavy winds here and the wall pocket falls to the ground. Perhaps I can hammer in one more nail to make it more stable.

Getting back to inspiration, I'd like to make something in clay documenting the bird nests in the garden. I realize I could have a whole series of nests: lemon tree nest, rose trellis nest, wall pocket nest, swallow in birdhouse nest, grackle in willow tree nest, blue heron in sycamore nest, and I am sure if I look around I will find some more nests. Since its still dark I can't take any photos of the nests, so I started a few rough drawings. These drawings will go in my journal.

Several years ago, I found a nest on the ground when we lived in the mountains, and I saved the nest in a decorative tin box. When we moved here I unpacked the nest and placed it in a manzanita branch I propped inside a clay pot. I purchased some artificial eggs to put inside the nest. I just love the moss and bird feathers which were used to make this nest. This sample nest will help me to construct my own clay nest.