Kent,
The work is inlayed - material is removed from the deck and the inlay is inserted resulting in a truly flush deck.

Tom,
The edges of the branches are darkened by slightly scorching the wood. To do this you need to heat up a tray of very fine sand on a portable electric burner (or stovetop)and then insert that portion of the wood to be darkened - you can really fine tune the degree to which the wood darkens this way and you can impart what appears to be a shadow - 3D effect. I spent about 3 days working on the chickadee inlays.

Paul,
I ended up using a piece of dark walnut for the Bald Eagle eye (even though their eyes are in reality yellow) and then added a very slight reflection to it by drilling a 1/64" hole and inserting a sliver of yellow cedar in it. If you look closely at the chickadee eyes you can see this technique - it is very effective in making eyes appear realistic rather than just as dark holes in the bird's head.

Later,
Joe