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Nesting Materials Station
by Heather Harden
While Lord Alfred Tennyson wrote “In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love”, our yard birds’ thoughts are turning to nest building. What better way to celebrate spring and renewal than to give our feathered friends a helping hand. This month we will be building a Nesting Materials Station.
Using simple materials we will create a functional and inviting place that your yard birds can gather building material to make cozy nests for their broods.
Tools:\
• Scissors • Wire cutters
• Pliers
• Large heavy needle – size 13 tapestry needle
• Small hand saw • Drill & small drill bits (such as 5/32 and one the same size as your perch)
Materials:
• Floral wire – 18 gauge pre-cut 18” stems and 22 gauge pre-cut stems or by the spool – available at most craft stores that carry silk floral arrangements
• Mesh bag such as the kind oranges or onions come in
• 8” plant pot saucer
• Wood – 1” x 2” (the length of this depends on the size and shape of the plant pot saucer you choose). This is available at building supply stores. Many places will cut it to size for a small fee.
• Small scrap of wood to protect the work surface while sawing and drilling
• Cotton string – cotton crochet yarn is an excellent and inexpensive choice. It is widely available at most large craft or fabric stores
• Wool Fleece – 1 – 2 ounces will fill the station several times. This is wool that has not been spun into yarn. Use fleece that has been washed and carded. Try to avoid dyed fleece. This is available at many yarn stores. See Resources at the end of the article for reliable on-line sources.
• Light weight chain – about 2 feet. This is available at most hardware stores. This will be used to hang the station
• Perch – This could be a skewer, a dowel or round chop stick. It should be between 3/16” and ¼ inch. Trim to about 3 ½ to 4” long.
• White glue or carpenters glue to secure the perch
Preparing Materials Make two marks on the inside of the plant saucer exactly across from each other. Place the saucer on the scrap of wood and drill a hole at the two marks.
Measure the distance between the two holes in the saucer. This number plus one inch will be the length you will cut the 1” x 2” piece of wood. Set the saucer aside.
In the example the distance between the holes was 6”. Add 1” and the total length of the wood would be 7 inches. Mark the wood and carefully saw the wood. With the wide side of the wood flat on the work surface, draw a line a ½” in from each end of the wood. Make a mark at the center of this line at each end.
Place the 1” by 2” on the scrap of wood and carefully drill at the intersection of the two marks. Take care to hold the drill as straight as possible.
Using the drill bit that is the same diameter as the perch, drill a hole in the center of the narrow side of the wood approximately ½” deep. Drill a hole on each side. Insert the perch to make sure it fits. Set aside; the perch will be glued after the entire station is completed.
Take two of the 16 gauge floral stems and with the pliers, make a 90 degree bend in the wire about 1 1/2” from the end of each stem. Make a second bend about a ½” from the first.
Continue turning the second bend until it lies flat against the first bend making a “T” at the end of the stem. Set stems aside.
You will need about an 8” length of mesh bag. Many bags are closed at each end with a wire crimp or are melted closed; trim the bag just under one of the crimps or the melted area. If this is the case with your bag you will not need to sew a hem in the bag.
Many bags have labels stitched to the ends of the bags. Remove the stitching and the label, by either cutting the bag or by removing the stitching. To make a hem, fold over about 1 inch at the end of the mesh bag. Thread the large needle with about 18 inches of string. Insert the needle in the edge of the hem and take several stitches in the same hole. Tie a knot to secure the string. Sew across the bottom of the hem using a large running stitch.
After you have completed sewing the hem; take a couple of stitches in the same hole. Before pulling the last loop closed, insert the needle and string. Pull the loop closed; this will make a knot to secure the end of the string. Set aside.
Assembling the Station Photo: Assemble Base
Insert the wire stems through each of the holes in the ends of the 1” x 2”. Lay the mesh bag between the two wire stems, aligning the hem or crimp with the wooden base. One at a time, weave the wire stems through the mesh at the sides of the bag.
The object of the next steps is to create a small loop in the wire stems to support the saucer “roof”. On each wire stem, measure 8” from the wood base and make a mark. It is important that these bends be in the same place in each wire, as they make the roof support.
With the pliers, make a 90 degree bend in the wire at this mark on each stem.
Make a second bend about ½” from the first. Continue bending until the wires are parallel. Make another 90 degree bend about a ½” from the second bend. The top of the wire should now be vertical.
To keep the mesh bag in place, weave a 22 gauge piece of wire through back of the mesh bag and thread it through the loops just created. To secure the wire, wrap it around the loops and trim. Do this to both sides.
Cut about a foot of string and fold it in half. Thread the loop through the center of the back of mesh bag and around the piece of support wire. Thread the ends of the string through the loop and tighten. After filling the bag with nesting supplies, this string will be tied to the front of the mesh bag to secure the contents.
Thread the legs through the holes from the underside of the plant saucer. This will make the roof of the station.
With the pliers, make a 90 degree bend in one of the legs about a half inch from the end and fold this over to make a small loop. On the other leg, make a 90 degree angle with the pliers. Before closing the loop hook it into the first loop and then close the second loop.
If necessary trim your perch to be about 4” long. Apply a small amount of glue to the end of the perch and insert in into the hole drilled earlier. Wipe any excess glue form the wood and the perch.
Filling the Station
Now you are ready to fill your station with nesting supplies. Carded, unspun wool is a wonderful choice. The wool is usually sold as roving and is fairly dense. Does not use polyester fiber-fill, the fibers are too short and it will not keep the birds warm when it gets wet. You will need to fluff this up a bit before you put it in the station. Hold the roving in your hands and hold your hands about 18” apart. Firmly but gently pull a small bit of fleece from the end.
Continue doing this until you have a pile about the size of a softball. Gently fill the bag with the fleece. If you pack too much fleece into the bag it will be hard for the birds to pull it through the mesh. Thread one of the strings tied to the back of the mesh bag through the mesh on the front of the bag and tie the two strings together. This will secure the contents of the station.
Pull bits of fleece through the mesh, using the end of the large needle. This will help the birds remove the fleece and entice them to explore the station.
Thread the large needle with about 2 yards of the string. Push the needle through the fleece at the edge of the bag and pull the string through until there is about a 9 – 10” tail sticking out of the mesh. Trim the string so that there is about the same amount of string on the other side. By pulling the string all the way through each time, it saves having to rethread the needle each time. The friction of the fleece on the string will keep the string in place until the birds pull it out. Fill the sides of the station with strings. The motion of the strings will further entice the bird to explore the station.
An alternative to filling the bag with fleece would be to fill the bag with foot lengths of string. Pull a few of the strings through the mesh to create motion.
If would like to provide the birds with nesting material, but you are no feeling crafty. Pack fleece and string into a CLEAN wire suet cage and hang it on a protected branch.
Hanging the Station
Attach a length of chain to the loops at the top of the station. Hang the station on a protected branch high enough off the ground, so that the birds are protected from predators.
Happy Nesting Season to all the birds in your yard!
- Heather
Resources: Unspun wool fleece can be purchased at many yarn stores. There are also many on-line sources. These are two that I have used and have found them reliable.
www.halcyonyarns.com - The minimum order is one ounce. They carry a large selection of fibers, I would recommend their domestic top. www.portlandfibergallery.com - They do not have an on-line store for their natural fibers. For mail order call them (207) 780-1345. They have no minimum requirement on fleece
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Heather Harden has been an avid crafter for all of her life who is fortunate to have had her parents and her grandmother as wonderful creative influences. She learned about process and detail through her work in the business world as a Programmer Analyst at Bath Iron Works. As the mom to a developmentally disabled adult daughter she honed her patience and creativity. She is currently pursing the fiber arts, as a dyer and a beginning quilter.
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