Feathered friends pick strange sites

Heighley Gate near Morpeth, Stanton further west, and Loaning Head near Alnwick, are three of my favourite places locally.

Five poly-tunnels at the Fairbairn’s Loaning head were overflowing with healthy summer bedding plants last week, with Michael and Carolyn busy but accommodating, taking time out for plant talk.

Conversation turned to garden birds and their antics, as it often does.

An acquaintance who only uses his tractor occasionally, cannot move it at present because a blackbird has nested on a wheel.

Carolyn warmed to the theme, indicating a robin’s nest, full of young, in a stack of pots.

Then came the most surprising choice of nesting site this year – a fully planted basket, hanging from a wall bracket, with a clutch of young pied wagtails so well camouflaged that it took a while to spot them amongst the flowers. Watering is going to be tricky until they’re fully fledged.

Have any birds chosen off-beat nesting sites in your garden?