Wild Wednesday - Chrysalis?

I came across this whilst out walking today. I thought at the time it was a strange sort of catkin, but when I looked at the photo later it seemed more like some sort of chrysalis with a larva inside. There were several on this shrub, which looks like laurel; they're about 4 inches long. Does anyone know what it is? Please do tell me if you know.

I also came across a mother grebe with her chick on Killingworth Lake. They were rather far away so even using my telephoto lens I've had to crop the photo a lot so the quality isn't all that good. However I've uploaded it as an extra as it was rather cute.