A Thing of Great Beauty

some thoughts about birds nests - from Magpies to Swifts

Earlier this Spring I had been watching a pair of Magpies flying into one of the tall conifer trees at the edge of my Mother-in-law’s garden, carrying large twigs, that seemed as though they’d be far too unwieldly for the birds to form into a nest. It was very entertaining to watch the pair of birds, and nice to know they were nesting, but I didn’t really pay much thought to the nest itself until it fell out of the tree, landing on top of the eating apple tree in the garden. Once we managed to rescue the nest, it was laid on the garden bench and we could get a good look at it.

It’s a wonderful work of art, with the relatively messy outer layers of long twigs supporting an inner core of smaller twigs bound together with mud and then inside that there’s another layer of very fine twigs, which looks as though it would be very comfortable. It doesn’t look as though the Magpies had a chance to even lay eggs in it, as it is very neat and clean.

Obviously, although it is beautifully made, there must have been an error somewhere along the line, perhaps the branch it was constructed on wasn’t stable enough. We’ll never really know! I do hope that the pair get the chance to build another nest and raise a family. Last time I was in the garden, the magpies were fussing around the top of the cooking apple tree, so maybe they’re thinking of nesting there.

Magpies are often considered problem birds, for their habit of stealing (and eating) nestlings from other birds nests, but they are very intelligent and handsome too. It’s easy to think of Magpies as just black and white, but as you can see in the photo below, when the light is right, they show up wonderful irridescence in their wings and tail.

We rarely get the chance to have a close look at birds nests. Most nests are fairly well hidden away and you should of course not disturb birds at their nests, they have enough problems in their lives these days. So it was particularly nice to get this chance to have a really close look at a nest and appreciate the craft involved in making it.

Meanwhile, at the weekend we had a trip to Dunbar on the East Lothian coast and were very happy to find numbers of nesting colonies. Several Kittiwakes are nesting on these cliffs just outside the town

and further along the coast there are a lot of Sand Martins, you can just see their nest holes in the photo below, the birds themselves are too speedy to easily capture on film, though we were delighted to see more of these pretty little birds than we have ever seen before.

It’s fascinating to compare the different ways that various bird species choose to nest. There’s an interesting article about birds nests in the UK on the National History Museum website here and another here on the website of wildlife artist Robert Fuller.

Many species of birds these days suffer from a lack of nest sites, for reasons that may include a lack of mature trees with suitable nesting holes or householders blocking off the entrance holes to nest sites in roofs. If you want to help nesting birds in your garden there’s an excellent article here from the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds).

One bird that needs particular help with nest sites is the Swift, which is declining quite considerably in the UK. This wonderful bird spends almost all its life on the wing and migrates from Africa to the UK every year. Although it does literally almost everything in the air, it needs a nest in which to lay its eggs. Sadly nest sites in the tall buildings that Swifts favour are declining. People can help by putting up nest boxes and house builders are being increasingly encouraged to include ‘swift bricks’ in new build developments. (If you’re in the UK, please consider signing this petition from 38 Degrees, asking for it to be made a legal requirement that all new homes should include swift bricks). This article about International Migratory Bird Day, includes quite a lot of information about how to help swifts. You can also find a lot of information and advice about swifts on the Swift Conservation website. Our local Swifts arrived back a few days ago now, earlier than in previous years. I love watching them as they swoop around the sky and fingers crossed, they may even use the nestboxes that we asked the roofers to put up a few years ago, last time we needed roof repairs. The boxes haven’t been used yet, though I think I saw a Swift taking a close look at one of them last year, so you never know….

What I’m Reading

Say Goodbye to the Cuckoo by Michael McCarthy - a wonderful exploration of some of the UK’s most beloved Spring migrant birds, including of course the cuckoo.