Friday, May 27, 2011

Great spotted woodpecker, barn owl etc.

After I made the Gnome with the woodpecker feathers, I had to make a woodpecker.
In the back of my head there was also a little voice saying I had to make a Barn owl for someone but I couldn't find the "someone".
I checked my emails but no !
I hope if the "someone" sees this post she gives me a message :-(

So, after I finished the two birdies I had to make another bird : An European Blue Jay.
Pheeeew, this also came from a little voice in my head ( what is going on up there !!??! )

I adore the Jay, it's a intelligent, curious, beautiful bird and they can mimic other birds.
When I lived in Utrecht, I had a water fountain in my garden and these shy birds came to play and bath.
One day there were six of them, and one of them started to sing in a most peculiar way, it was beautiful, I'll never forget.
I really fell in love with the Jay and despite of my neighbours complaints about them ( they eat little birds)
there were plenty of little songbirds around.
I've read a research paper that concluded there was actually an increase of songbirds in the area where the Jay lives.
Mmmm I can really get upset if I hear people are hating this bird and crows and magpies.
I used to live in the country side and the local farmers hang a dead crow in their fields to scare away other crows. I think they don't understand that the crows are eating insects like the larva of Maybugs etc. that eat their crops.
Okay, enough with the venting of my frustrations.

Here are the BIRDS





The not yet finished European Blue Jay:

11 comments:

  1. Beautiful! I know what you mean, Helen. It never seems to amaze me how little some people know about the world around them and that the biggest threat to wildlife is humans not other wildlife.

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  2. Wonderful work! I love the woodpecker and hope to see the blue jay ready soon! I also enjoyed to watch them in the garden, but they got rare nowadays.

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  3. Thank you Elli! I live in this village for 5 years and have seen them twice, where are they?
    :-(

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  4. Oh, I love your little woodpecker. So beautiful.
    I have one in my back yard visiting sometimes.
    Have a nice weekend.
    Christine

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  5. Thank you Christine, you have a nice weekend too!

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  6. Helen your woodpecker and owl are wonderful! I love your beginning of your jay too. So very lovely.

    I SOOOO understand what you are saying about people Helen, with wildlife. If people would just leave wildlife alone and let the balance of nature take place all would be much better. I feed songbirds too as you know, but also love my crow family that visited all winter, plus the red tailed hawk that allows me to walk up to him on the fence. The sneaky Cooper's hawks and Kestrels, I love them too. People are so misinformed! I get angry too when I see that. As my naturalist father used to say "everything has it's place in nature, to balance things out." And this is funny, our songbirds loved the crows this winter, because when the crows lived in our yard each day they battled the hawks that wanted to eat the songbirds. As soon as the crows would come in our yard the songbirds would come out from the thickets and feel safe. They watched the crows battle the red-tailed hawk for their territory, our yard. And the crows always won, the hawks would only sneak in once in awhile due to the crows. The crows escorted the hawks out many a time! The one day I was out with my crows in the yard and TWO Cooper's hawks came to go to battle with the crows so they could have songbirds in our yard. Wings lashed above my head in battle, the hawks were trying to take on the 4 crows. I will never forget it, it was a mass of wings flapping madly above my head. Buck the breeding male fought hard as did his mate and 2 children. They won again and escorted TWO hawks from our yard. And no one was hurt. The songbirds came out while the crows perched in our trees after the battle, like shining black lolli-pops proud as can be, claiming our yard, and claiming me of course who feeds them corn and nuts. =) It is a magnificent thing to see, to watch nature in action. Yes, I knew something could have happened in front of my eyes, sad moments occur, but as my father kept saying to me as a child, "balance of nature Barby." I carry his wise words with me to this day.

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  7. Barby, thank you so much for your beautiful story!
    That is your passion, you are a beautiful person,
    Hugs,
    Helen

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  8. Dear Helen,
    your dolls, animals, and especially the birds are so very beautiful and one-of-a kind- I am very impressed.
    Even if you get copied, your are the only one who can sew such unforgettable dolls and animals!!! ;o)))
    with best wishes, cornelia

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  9. Thank you so much Cornelia!
    I have had Nachrichten von Dawanda-Mitglieder and I know what you are talking about, don't worry, es ist mir Egal!

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