Birds and a basket

A number of friends and I have been watching the Merlins carefully these past few days trying to divine just what is going on. As I've said, they seem to have relocated their nesting area about 1 block to the east. The problem is that there is no nest/crow's platform that can be seen in the tree. That said, plenty of crows have been "buzzing" our birds, Spike particularly. This would lead me to believe that there is indeed a crows nest somewhere close and they're just trying to protect it. We return to the old question though: where are Spike and Thor going to nest?
The past couple of nights have found them in a very cone-filled, tall, and heavily filled out fir tree and the tree next to it. Spikes's calls ring through the evening air but even a very careful scan of each upper branch of the tree with our binoculars yields nothing. Last night, finally, Spike moved out of the branch cover and we could see her at last. So, if there is a nesting spot there, it would be perfect. The pair have been courting so the need for a nest might be nearing the urgent phase. I'll swing by the site again tonight to see if the situation has settled or, gulp, changed again.
Our Bushtits have been working furiously and reweaving the nest, patching the holes and sheer spots and even (you can compare this photo with prior pix) weaving it around an upper crook of the rose bush thus offering much more stability. These birds are such architects!
Inside, apparently, is yet another environment with strength, of course, stressed to support mother and chicks. Almost more importantly though is softness, cushioning. Mosses and small found feathers and even laundry lint are massed to create a soft pillow for the new family. This is such a contrast to the recycled nest the Merlins use which is constructed of small branches and twigs and, by the time the second owners' nest, is filled with bugs, feathers, last years' food scraps and the birds' droppings. Yikes!
Neither of these habits, though, make one bird more or less appealing or appalling. I love following them both and will continue posting the lastest.
Finally, the basket pictured is my first. It is a Cedar Sampler I learned to make yesterday and is constructed using some NW native methods and, certainly, materials. There is Cedar, Wild Cherry bark, Sweet Grass, and Bear Grass woven in it and it smells of the forest. The weave is involving (it took all day) but fun and I couldn't be happier with the result, however funky.