Autumn Bird Nest

Today was an extremely dark, wet and dreary day so I decided to cheer myself up by doing a little still life photography. Not the best lighting to work with by any means but doable.

This summer a mamma bird made the sweetest nest in my garden shed, completely protected from the elements. She laid three eggs. My husband and I were protective of the nest and made sure the cats wouldn't disturb it. The babies quickly grew strong and flew away. After the nest was removed I looked closely and found it had been constructed primarily from a coco fiber planter lining I had stashed away in the shed. It made for a very sturdy nest! I tucked it in among the flowers in my tall wooden planters on the front porch.

For this week's My Still Sunday Class on Kim Klassen's website the prompt was to photograph some of the nature gatherings from last week's class. Also, we were to shoot from the top looking down. I used a rustic table, also from the front porch, the nest, a Japanese maple branch, some branches with lichen, some weeds that had gone to seed and a bit of tea-stained cotton trim. I robbed a bird feather and three fake eggs from a couple of imitation bird nests I have around the house. Of course, this time of year birds aren't laying eggs and I wouldn't rob eggs from a nest anyway! I found just enough light to take the above photo.

I love how this turned out. And of course I returned the nest back to the front porch where it will find itself among evergreen branches I will add to the planter for the holidays.