Nice Nests
Nice Nests are built entirely from discarded wood scraps salvaged from tear-downs, remodels or new home construction. Patrick Hannigan re-purposes ancient barn boards and old apple bins picked from dump or burn piles. Most birdhouses are poorly-built structures made from fresh-cut lumber – but it’s crazy to cut down bird habitat to build birdhouses when there is so much wood being tossed into landfills every day. Patrick transforms dump-bound scraps back into bird habitat.
Nice Nests are species-specific nestboxes, carefully designed to create functional breeding habitat for a variety of cavity nesting birds. Most “birdhouses” are nothing more than cutesy yard art made for people, not birds. Nice Nests are different. Each Nice Nest features proper hole sizes, floor dimensions and box depths perfectly suited to the target species. Every nestbox has appropriate drainage and ventilation and opens easily (no tools required) for clean-out. Nestboxes are built for dozens of species of cavity nesting birds, from Pygmy Nuthatches to Violet-Green Swallows, Western Bluebirds to Wood Ducks, American Kestrels to Saw-Whet Owls. Nice Nests are for the birds.
Nice Nest are modern and rustic, inventive and functional. The random re-purposed hardware used for door pulls ranges from spent shotgun shells, to old oar locks, vintage knobs to rusty oddities salvaged from junkyards and broken-down farm machinery. The accents of color are matched to nature: the red of the Pileated Woodpecker, the vibrant green of Wolf Moss, the yellow to Arrowleaf Balsamroot, the native sunflower of the American West.
In addition to building functional nestboxes for future generations of our feathered friends, Patrick also offers installation and on-site consultations in Washington State. Prices are negotiable based on location. Patrick will walk your property with you and write up a detailed habitat assessment of existing or potential opportunities to conserve, create, or enhance critical breeding habitat for cavity-nesting bird species.
Patrick graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA, and has since worked in politics and construction, taught high school and snowboarding, labored in the tech industry, was a freelance writer, a sports editor, and tended bar. He bought 20 acres of raw land in the Methow Valley in 2001 and lived in a 160-square-foot shack with no power or running water for five years. Eventually he built his own home (with utilities!) where he lives today with his 5-year-old daughter, some chickens, and a goofy livestock-guardian dog named Skookum.
Contact
T: (509) 699-0349
E: patrick@nicenests.com
Find Nice Nests on Facebook
Purchase nesting boxes from the Nice Nests website at www.nicenests.com/shop/
Location/Hours
Building P – The South Shed – Unit 4
Patrick does not have set workshop hours, but always welcomes drop-in visitors or appointments.