Long tailed tits nesting

I was delighted to realise that a couple of long-tailed tits had built a nest in my back garden. I would never have seen the nest if it had not been for the birds going in and out of the bush with feathers in their beaks.

Even before leaves started to grow on the bush, the nest was nearly invisible as the materials used on the outside were those found on the branches, i.e. lichen.

As the leaves grow, the bush will make a very safe environment for the chicks when they finally leave the nest. Below, one of the parents getting out of the nest:

 The eggs have hatched. The chicks have no feather and their eyes are closed:

 Five days later, eyes are open and feathers have grown. Have a look at that tongue:

And here, you can just about see a little "Mohican hairstyle":

 Now, have a look at my video. It is a small collage of my best clips. Also, notice how elasticated the nest seems: you can see the materials stretch as the parents go in and out. And at exactly 2m30, you can see the chick make a saliva bubble. Funny!

And please, let me know what you think of my video! Enjoy!

Coots in Hertfordshire

We went for a walk on Sunday along public footpaths near Hemel Hemsptead. We saw 3 coot hens all had chicks of different ages.
The first one was spotted by chance as she was nesting very quietly among the vegetation.
The second one was swimming next to her six newly hatched chicks. Unfortunately, she had made her nest very close to a large crow rookery.....
And this probably explains why our third coot only had one chick with her as she too was not very far from the crow rookery.
Hope you enjoy the small clip.