Nests

I had a lovely parcel in the post today, containing two books I’d recently ordered. One was The Robin: A Biography by Stephen Moss, which I’d wanted to buy ever since son #1 bought me The Wren: A Biography, which I absolutely adore. 

The second is this gorgeously illustrated book about birds’ nests by Susan Ogilvy. I found out about it in a recent email from Brian Draper in his Lent 2022 series "Let the light in". He started by quoting from Psalm 84:

Even the sparrow has found a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may have her young -
a place near your altar,
    Lord Almighty, my King and my God. (Psalm 84)

and then went on to say:

"I was excited to realise the swallows will have now embarked on their epic 6,000-mile journey back to us from Africa; each one part of the great ebb and flow of the rhythms of Creation. What exquisite instrumentation to be blessed with, to find their way so far!

"And how good that Psalm 84 gives them an honourable mention! ‘How lovely is your dwelling place,' writes the psalmist, a priest longing to be back at the Temple (which was probably cut off by war). 'My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord.'

"It's such a delightful detail for him to observe that in that revered space, ‘even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, near your altar’. Creation is part of the very fabric of holiness, at home with its hospitable Creator."

Brian reproduced one of the drawings of a wren’s nest in his email (with the author’s permission) and that just did it for me. I had to order the book – well, it was a wren’s nest, after all! 

It’s an exquisite book, and I’m looking forward to spending time appreciating all of the amazingly detailed (and life sized) paintings, and reading the accompanying text. I’ve photographed it in my garden beside a nest which I found in the hydrangea petiolaris which grows up the side of our garage. The nest had been unused for months, so I brought it indoors last autumn so I could keep it to show my granddaughters. I’m not sure which type of bird made it, but hopefully by the time I’ve read the book I may have a better idea.