Now that the terrible endless winter is finally over, the birds in Berlin have been incredibly busy catching up and building nests. Everywhere I see birds flying with materials in their mouths, but I am not quick enough to catch them on camera. Above is a female chaffinch gathering twigs for her nest in the Tiergarten, near the Neuer See. Her man was in the area foraging for food.

Near the S-Bahn tracks by my house a pair of magpies have been working from dawn until dusk over the last week to build their nest. I feel incredibly lazy compared to them. The nest seems to be completed now, and it is quite large. They are now spending their energy protecting it from crows. (The crows themselves have been busy. I spotted three crow’s nests today, with crows inside them.)

I tried very hard to get some photos or video of the magpies at work, but any time I got anywhere near the nest they would fly off and hide. So I left them in peace, but did manage to get this photo. They don’t reuse their old nests, or even the same trees. For the last three years these magpies have built nests in three different locations. I also noticed that they will not use old twigs, but instead painstakingly break new ones off the trees. I suppose that makes for a more sturdy nest, but it is quite a lot of work!