I Love my Birdhouses

 

For as long as I can remember I have had a fascination with birdhouses.  Old ones, new ones, decorated one, rustic ones - I just love them all.  So the collecting of birdhouses has become a bit of a passion of mine.  Only problem is I have fast run out of places to display them all!  

This one sits on top of a side table in my Dining Room.  The silver candle stick holder which I bought in Dublin and a little trinket box which Alan gave me a couple of Christmas' ago complete the picture.

This one is on my front verandah.  It is the first thing visitors see when they walk down the pathway leading to the front door.  I have never seen a bird go anywhere near it however the geckos love it and I often see them scooting in the hole and out the door.  Perfect place for gecko "hide and seek"!

This little one I painted a couple of years ago (during my folk art phase).  It is so sweet with a beautiful wisteria vine creeping over the front door and up towards the entry hole.  It even has "Welcome" painted over the front door.  What self respecting bird would not want to live in such a pretty house?

I also have a fascination with birds nests.   This one is an abandoned sun bird's nest.  I think it is absolutely fascinating the way birds make their nests.  Such precision and patience.   This particular nest is especially dear to me as it is made out of Alan's discarded hair trimmings!    Hhhh?.....    Well you see,  I often give Alan a bit of a hair trim out on the side verandah and then pick up the trimmings and toss them into the garden.   Last spring a couple of sun birds decided to build their nest on one of the arms of my verandah candelabra and after it was finished I couldn't help but notice that there was something strangely familiar about their nest......  You guessed it!  They had obviously found Alan's hair trimmings in the garden and weaved into their nest.    A real "Designer" birdsnest with a speckled grey textured  finish.  Talk about interaction with nature.

This is one of the first birdhouses I ever bought.   It is in the shape of an old post office and sits on the railing of my side verandah.   I have a similar one in the shape of an old saloon down the other end of the verandah however we had to remove the roof of that one.   A green tree frog had obviously decided that it was a pretty good house and used to come and go via the bird hole.  However after a month of hibernation in "the Old Saloon" it became too big to be able to get out - hence the removal of part of the roof.  The things you do!

 

This is another of my handpainted birdhouses - this time in a stained timber look with a maroon stencil and terracotta pot of flowers.   It sits on my angel hutch and is another favourite hidey spot for our pet geckos.