Another Mother 2 b..

I would like to welcome two little Blue-gray Gnatcatchers to our neighborhood! This is the little lady below getting ready to pull off some fragments of that cocoon to add to her nest. Gnatcatchers are tiny birds but their size tells you nothing about their unbelievable abilities to create an amazing nest!
This is the handsome Mr G. He has been working with the Mrs. helping to build their tiny, tiny nest in a spindly little tree not too far from the side of the road. The nest is situated about 20 feet above the road's surface.
Lucky for them that several spiders have chosen to build their webs close by as the Gnatcatchers probably used some of this silky material to help attach their nest to the tree limbs. You might have to click on this pic to see the web..
They slaved approx 4 days to built this (2 x 2 1/2 inch) nest. So tiny!! Each carrying little pedals of cocooned ivy and intertwining them with what looks like bits of spider web, cocoon matter and plant fiber. All the nesting materials were laced together extremely well. (click to enlarge)
What a construction crew these two have been. I feel pretty lucky to have seen this. Two little birds working from sun up to sun down..pulling, pushing, tweaking...weaving...

..getting their "home" ready. Today you can see the Mrs. sitting in that little cup with her long tail pointed up one side and the tip of her bill pointing up the other! Another Mother I don't want to bother ...but I do hope all goes well for this little bird family. It would be rather nice to have some Gnatcatcher youngsters flitting around the neighborhood!