Dead and dying flowers

Some years ago I wanted a dead bird for a painting. One morning I got into my car to go to the local shops. and drove out in the snow. I got about 100 yards from home, and in the middle of the road lay a bird, pristine black on white compacted snow. I got out, picked it up and took it home. Recently I painted two small studies of a dead female blackbird, and have been keeping my eye out for further specimens.Yesterday I went to a gallery, and on returning home I found a dead pigeon lying by my back door. My wife explained that it had flown into a window and had fallen where I found it. A delicate image created by the impact was left on my window. I felt that I must immediately start a painting as homage to the bird that unwittingly delivered itself to me. The advantage with the blackbird lay in the cold weather, which slowed down its decomposition, and there were no flies. The pigeon has chosen summer. I hope that whatever caused it to fly into a closed window is not contagious.