Winter is the time to look at birds’ nests. They have been there since May, but invisible amongst the leaves. We have been walking by them every day and never noticed.
Different birds build different types of nests: crows, pigeons and magpies have huge untidy piles of sticks very high up in the trees; blackbirds make much neater nests of sticks, about five feet off the ground. Some birds nest in long grass under a hedge. Robins build anywhere.
If you can get close enough to look carefully at the nest, it is amazing what the bird has used as building materials. Lots of little birds line their nests with hair – horsehair, dog hair, goat hair, sheep’s wool, or fluffy seed heads. Others use moss and lichen; my local robin uses a most untidy pile of oak leaves and moss – it is a wonder the babies don’t fall out, it is so badly done!
And the wonderful thing is that all the nests are built out of recycled materials.