Nesting Instinct
I was going to have a bit of a break from blogging this Easter weekend, but Jenson came up with an idea that I just had to write about!
We had intended to go to an Easter workshop at Church this morning, and we did make it, but only just! I take the blame entirely, such was my determination to capture the blue tits on camera. Trying to bird watch with Jenson and Wren, however, is like trying to eat baked beans through a straw: it's impossible! While my bird watching skills may be lacking, my enthusiasm is such that it is clearly leaving an impression on Jenson. When we returned from Church he told me that he didn't want to make chocolate nests, (which Wren helped me with) but a real one filled with chocolate eggs!
He hastily marched outside and began collecting sticks from the garden. To help create a structure for the nest and therefore something for the sticks to weave into, I suggested we use a small piece of chicken wire. Together we moulded it into a nest shape. We then thought about what type of bird might use the nest based on the size of it. He thought a small bird.
Next I suggested he might like to think about the size of the sticks he had found. They were all pretty big and chunky, not very malleable. We thought about the size of sticks that small birds might use and went on the hunt for some. The willow around the back of the house was ideal. He started snipping away at the branches.
Next he wrapped the willow around the wire frame. I helped in places but he mostly did it by himself.
We thought about what a bird might do next. He suggested lining the nest with leaves and off he went to collect some ivy.
Once we had built the structure and lined it, we thought about what else we could add. I asked Jenson if the nest looked very comfortable for a bird to sit in and lay her eggs. He said no and suggested we might need some nice soft things to pad it out with. We couldn't find any moss, but then I remembered that on our way back from Church this morning we had walked past some Old Man's Beard. It was late in the afternoon and Jenson was tired. He wasn't keen on walking the very short distance, but that was okay. Wren on the other hand was naked, as she almost always is by this point in the day. She is now fully toilet trained, (hurrah) but this means lots of knicker changes and frequent removal of clothes. She wasn't keen on putting anything back on either, and again, that was okay because she could wait in the car while we picked the foliage we needed. Sadly I couldn't park the car anywhere close to where we needed to be and so I had to carry her up the street completely naked. We got a few looks as people braced themselves against the chilly Spring breeze.
We returned home after a successful trip gathering Old Man's Beard and Jenson started to line the nest with it.
He then collected some rabbit fur, (our rabbits are currently moulting)...
...and chicken feathers to finish!
What a lovely cosy home it looks!
All that was left to do was to pop some chocolate eggs in it.
Jenson's home made nest with chocolate eggs and Wren's homemade chocolate nests with eggs! It was a wonderful afternoon of making, creating and thinking about nature.