Counting birds

Softie owl on a peg

How cute would he look on the Christmas tree !

A family of woolly owls

Owl for Meikoningin Designs

A new bird !

Today i saw a new bird again, it was the Grey Wagtail
(Vintererle / Grote gele kwikstaart) which i had never
seen before. It is a small member of the wagtail family.
The species looks similar to the Yellow Wagtail but
has the yellow on its underside restricted to the throat
and vent. Breeding males have a black throat. The
species is widely distributed, with several populations
breeding in Europe and Asia and migrating to tropical
regions in Asia and Africa. They are usually seen on
open marshy ground or meadows where they walk
solitarily or in pairs along the ground, capturing insects
that are disturbed. Like other wagtails, they frequently
wag their tail and fly low with undulations and they
have a sharp call that is often given in flight.

Owl for Meikoningin Designs

New birds

When walking our last training for the Nijmegen Four Day
Marches last Sunday, we observed birds unknown to us.
They were Emperor Geese (Keizergans /  Keisergås).
They are a nice and plump kind of goose and pretty
as well.

Bird

Recently, i have seen this bird for the second time in
my life. This bird called Putter (European Goldfinch /
Stillits). It is a beautiful, colourful bird that usually
lives in the woods, therefor it is unusual to meet it
in towns and cities.

My crafty family : owl pillow

My mother made this pillow for me when i was a baby.

Bird Hearts for Meikoningin Designs

Something interesting

The Common Pheasant (fazant / fasan), is a bird in the pheasant family
It is native to Asia and has been widely introduced elsewhere as a game
bird. In parts of its range, namely in places where none of its relatives
occur such as in Europe, it is simply known as the "pheasant". The word
pheasant is derived from the ancient town of Phasis.
A while ago i saw some of them sitting in trees and then found out on
the internet that they actually go up in the trees every evening, just like
chickens go sit on their perches at night,how interesting !

Birdy hearts for Meikoningin Designs

A welcome home owl ...

... for a pair of friends who return from their vacation.

Another training, another bird

On one of our latest trainings, we spotted this colourful
bird. He flew out of a hedgerow we passed and showed
off his exremely yellow back and his red head.

We found out later that we had seen the european green
woodpecker - picus viridis (groene specht / grønnspett),
a colourful member of the woodpecker family.

Another new bird

I spotted yet another new bird when we were staying in the forest,
at my parent's vacationhouse. It was an american robin - turdus
migratorius (roodborstlijster / vandretrost) that just would not sit
still for more than a few seconds. It was hopping from branch to
branch and flying from tree to tree.

A new bird

When we were at my parent's vacationhouse i saw this
bird : the european pied flycatcher - ficedula hypoleuca
(bonte vliegenvanger / svarthvit fluesnapper). It was a
small bird that is not as abundant as it used to be in
these surroundings.

Small gifts for colleagues

I made some small going away presents for my colleagues.

This is the first batch i want to show you.

Workshop : Spring Wreath

How to make this Spring wreath :

Take a wreath form (i used on out of styrofoam) and begin
to wrap it with the wool of your liking, i used untwined
wool because i think that is just pretty, i did it unevenly
because i can not stand symmetry in these kinds of projects :)

Add a piece of ribbon in the colour of your choice,
and wrap it tightly around the top of your wreath,
glue the two ends together (or use pins).

Then add a bow, size and colour of your choice, i used
a bowmaker to make mine, again glue or pin in place.

Prepare the flowers that are going on your wreath :
make them look vintage and then add some glitter, i used
the type that is not really glittery, more the type that
makes the flowers look frosty. Add the flowers and some
leaves to the wreath with either glue or pins.

Sew an owl, and pin it in place, poor owl !
You can either make your own pattern, or use the one
i drew here :
creations-blog.blogspot.com/2012/01/softie-owl.html

ATC's : birds

Since it is spring i thought i would show you some
Bird ATC's. made with the Bird's Nest sheet by
Oxford Impressions. The pictures are not very
clear alas, for instance the background of the
ATC on the right is made out of stamped eggs ...
hope you can see a bit of it anyway.

Card : spring bird card

Designed for Kreative Hender