This is not the best photo, but I did not want to disturb them, or push the branches out of the way. Took two quick shots and left them to it.
Them ?
Who or what ?
Well this is in the garden, buried deep inside a Berberis bush and is the nest of a pair of Long Tailed Tits. I knew they were nesting somewhere around there, the big winter flock has split up and a pair kept hanging around the same area. On Monday I spotted them carrying feathers and other nest building materials. Moss, lichens, and spiders egg cocoons are the other things used, up to 6,000 separate items can be used, including 2,000 tiny feathers used to line the inside.
The nest is only small, maybe a clenched fist size, but they lay a lot of eggs, maybe 12 or 15, and as the chicks grow, the way the nest is made, it actually stretches bigger to allow them room to move.
