My Fine Feathered Friends

My beau and I moved into our current home one year ago in April.  We instantly fell in love with the balcony overlooking our new overgrown yard--we had just moved from a small apartment where the concrete balcony looked out on another apartment building.  One day, while taking in the view from our new second-story porch, we noticed a striking blue bird hopping around our yard with an entire peanut (in the shell) in his beak.  We watched while this funny fellow found just the right spot and, using the peanut as a shovel, dug a tiny hole for his treat.  He then carefully placed the peanut in the hole, tamped it down with his beak, and covered it up with some dead leaves.

   We were terribly amused by this unusual bird, and began to pay close attention to his antics every time we were outside.  We soon noticed that he was not alone: he had a mate. And they both had a penchant for peanuts in the shell.  After doing some research, I found out that our beautiful cerulean friends were called Western Scrub Jays.  Unlike many other types of birds, the female and the male have more or less the same brilliant coloring.  I also discovered that they are extremely intelligent as far as non-human animals go, and that they can be trained to eat (peanuts, of course) from one's hand.

Naturally, I went out and bought a big ol' bag of peanuts.  At first, we would just set the peanuts on the back railing and watch from a distance as the Scrub Jays would come pick up a treat and then hunt for a good spot in which to bury it. We slowly got closer and closer to the birds, until one day I placed a small pile of peanuts on my outstretched palm and watched with wonder and amazement as one of these wild creatures perched there for quite some time, picking out the perfect nut from the pile.

We've been feeding these lovely Jays for nearly a year now, and each day they become more accustomed to their human benefactors.  They even go so far as to hop into the house if I leave the door open, begging for their beloved peanuts.  

Inspired by the amazing coloring of my honorary pets, I created these "Scrub Jay Way" earrings.  I used Swarovski crystals for maximum color saturation and bling, and I loosely followed a pattern made famous by fantastic jewelry artist, Laura McCabe.  Enjoy!

Have you made any wildlife-inspired pieces?  We would love to see them!

Bead On,

Andrea