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Funky Nest Entries,1-10

1. Mrs. Vale Clark, Sutton, Ontario

A dove built a nest on top of an old robin nest, on top of an old moose antler on top of our garage door this spring.

2. Aparna Brown, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Here are some photos of an urban nest we found in Pittsburgh. We moved
here less than a year ago and are really enjoying doing some urban
birdwatching. We have a birdfeeder in a dogwood tree which regularly
gets pairs of cardinals (sometimes one pair will chase another away!)
We are happy to finally have a picture to submit to one of your
contests. If we receive a poster it will go in our 2 year old's room,
who is already an avid birdwatcher.

3. Lanette Crocker, Waynesboro, Mississippi

I live on a small farm and found this nest with small birds (probably Carolina Wrens...possibly Bewick's Wrens) recently in a bag of 8-8-8 fertilizer. If you look closely you can see the labeling on the outside of the bag showing through. Photography is a hobby of mine as well as a project I teach the 4-H youth, so I am often found making pictures.

4. Eileen Grover, Bordentown, New Jersey

Two winters ago we decided to purchase new feeders as the squirrels kept getting into the old one. My husband, being the type who can't throw anything away, hung the old feeder from a pole in the back yard until he could decide what he wanted to do with it. Come spring, that decision was made for him… We left it alone and they have a new brood in there again this year. Bear in mind the size of a feeder

- at least a foot wide by 7 or 8 inches deep - this is one industrious pair of little birds (house sparrows)!

5. Allen Krum, Towson, Maryland

I found this nest in a basketball net at the bottom of my driveway. I thought this was a unique place for a bird to make a nest. Unfortunately, basketball must be postponed for several weeks.

6. Marian Mendez, Hilaeah, Florida

I'm submitting this entry because it's so cute. This image makes me go 'aww'.

This April the mockingbirds once again (they've done it at least 3 years now) made a nest in a very, very, very tall plant with spiky foliage, so the actual nest was invisible, but I could hear the babies 'FEEEED MEEEE' all day long and the parents' 'Chick, chick, chick' as they exchanged greetings with each other. The parents were very pleased that I'd dug up a bed in my yard, as this gave them a ready access to many bugs. They'd see me come out to water, and they'd fly to a nearby perch to watch for bugs emerging from the soil, often picking up and arranging in their beaks several bugs at once before returning to the nest. They were very vigilant, and often chased away other mockingbirds and male grackles- which have been known to kill nestlings (they didn't mind female grackles). They even harassed cats in my yard, walking up to them and shouting BBZZZZZZZZ, and dive-bombing them.

They watched me attentively when I was near the nest plant, but seemed to have the sense to realize that I was a Useful Thing, making bug-hunting simple, and they never did more than fly over my head with a brief BZZZ to make sure I was aware they were on guard.

The babies outgrew the nest and fluttered down to a tall bush overgrown with roses - this is the photo I'm submitting. There were four babies, but it was impossible to get four of them to pose. You know what kids are like! They've almost reached maturity now (May 11), but I still sometimes see two of them together, pretending to be babies and hoping mom or dad will feed them. The parents were scolding them the last two weeks, telling them to 'get a job', and guiding them to my lantana plants, which have berries the mockingbirds enjoy.

7. Sakhawat Ali, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

This photo I have captured a street light that gives light to people at night.

I saw this and sent it for the competition because I think this is a unique nest in my urban area.

I am from Pakistan.

I am also participating in the Celebrate Urban Birds project.

Hopefully you will enjoy seeing this picture of the nest the House sparrow makes in an unbelievable place.

Ali_HOSP_Funky Nests

8. Davis Parker, Maryville, Tennessee

My brother and I needed a can for paintball practice so we got one from our recycling bin. A bird flew out and scared my brother! We moved bottles and cans to see the nest better. It is a Carolina Wren's nest.

Parker_CARW_Funky Nests

9. Fran Cumbow, Covington, Indiana

Taking the screen off of my bedroom window, hanging out of the window and taking pictures from above the nest felt like a Houdini trick! I hurried home each day to take pictures of the baby birds, watching them grow from pink babies until the day I opened the window to discover they had flown the nest. I especially like the expressions on the babies' faces. The mother bird built the nest atop our water drain spout under the roof eaves, a precarious spot indeed.

10. Jessica Kornheisl, Cocksackie, New York

Although there are no actual birds in the image, my simple watercolour was inspired by the architecture of the avians. I am always amazed at the delicate yet strong construction of nests, and in the care and creativity that goes into making them. Although they might be built in the oddest nooks, in the roughest areas, and be exposed to the harshest conditions (natural and manmade), the nest always looks soft, warm, safe, and inviting. One cannot help but be a little jealous of the cozy home bird eggs get to have.

Williams Faulkner said, "The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life." Although my piece might not use any modern materials or have a particularly contemporary aesthetic, it is creative in its attempt to capture the life in and around a nest, any time, any where. The comforting atmosphere, with a sense of peripheral activity, and the aura of tender life cradled precariously, will hopefully be held fixed for another day, whether it be a month from now or a hundred years.

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