While journeying in my backyard, I happened upon a fallen nest. It lay upside down under the laurel tree. I picked it up and took it home, placing it on the sill of my window. Nestled in it were an odd and ever-changing clutch of items: speckled and polished stones; some blue river glass; a feather, or two, added to the mix; and once I placed there a bit of soft possum fur, given to me as a child by an elder lady who wore her artworks as pins on her hat and sweaters.
ELEMENTS:
1. Many many feathers:
- white downy ones
- speckled grey ones
- mangy grey ones
- one black feather
2. Bird poop and supple pine sticks.
3. Bits of straw, golden and with the wheat seeds intact.
4. A strand of blue string.
5. A skein of sheep's wool.
6. A few strands of my long brown hair.
GOOD-NATURED:
ways to help a bird build a nest
1. Have more trees.
2. Have more of everything else too: shrubs, grasses, and flowers.
3. Stop using pesticides.
4. Let twigs fall as they may.
5. Provide a source of water, and a mud puddle or two.
6. Place any loose hairs, or pet furs into rose bushes, or in the bark of trees.
7. Make your yard a safe-haven from predators.
It was a marvel to look at - this nest. Such a peculiar beauty - all bundled and twiggled together out of these bits of straw and those pieces of pine. I wondered at the creative ability of the bird who built it, then at the abilities of all birds in general; they who build the nests of such elegant design, like the swallow or the hummingbird. Nests that are only used for approximately a moon cycle or two. Nature is incredible.
And then I saw a small glint of gold light reflected from a few of my own hairs, and I was delighted to realise that a part of myself, carelessly discarded out my bedroom window, had found its way into the outer world - woven into the very fabric of the nest.
