nest

D brought me this nest yesterday, he had found it on the ground underneath trees. I decided that it would make a good blip so today I have spent a lot of time photographing it in different places, changing the background and looking at the way it looks in different kinds of light. I haven't got much else done this morning, but hey ho.

All nests are amazing feats of construction (using only a beak!) but this one is particularly lovely. So many different materials have been collected and used - twigs, bracken stalks, moss, lichen, sheep wool, animal hairs and the pièce de résistance - the cup has been lined with dandelion petals. So labour intensive and so beautiful.

I am inclined to think that it was made by goldfinches, but I'm not an expert on nests. I just hope that it is one from last year and that they will not have to start all over again.