I spent a day last week photographing this long-tailed tit building a nest.
Long-tailed tits make their nests out of very soft materials which then expand as the chicks grow. They use lichen, cobwebs, moss, sheep's wool, or anything soft to make these intricate nests.
The trouble is they nest so early, usually before any leaves are out, that they are very visible. I've been trying to get a photograph of nesting long-tailed tits for many years now and each time I find one they get predated by magpies. There were some magpies close by so I decided to protect the nest with netting.
It was tricky because I had to fix the netting whilst they were off foraging for feathers to line their nest and then hide whenever I heard the contact calls between the pair which announced their return.
I used this very simple camouflage netting to hide behind whilst I photographed them. Long-tailed tits have such delicate colouring they make beautiful subjects to paint.
This is a one I painted a few years ago. I liked the way it was tugging at a length of soft sheep's wool.
