New Life

Finally it feels like spring is here, hooray, with buds bursting all over the garden, birds building their nests, our tiny hens making a bid for freedom, and even a new lamb born at home amongst our flock of Ouessant sheep. Opening the bothy door into the potting shed yesterday to collect some pots for rooted fruit bush cuttings which we had discovered when pruning the bushes, I came face to face with a wren, his beak filled with little bits of stuff, interrupted in his nest making. He was building not one but two nests, one in a coil of thick bailer twine hanging from a nail, and one in a coil of rope hanging next to it. Apparently male wrens make more than one nest, so as to be able to offer the discerning lady wren a choice. How exhausting for them! The rope nest is a neat little ball of moss, but the bright orange bailer twine nest has been stuffed with soft cosy feathers too, so perhaps that is the favourite.