Look out for nature's Master Recyclers

If you want some recycling inspiration at this time of year, look no further than out of your window. Birds are at it all over the place.

In gardens everywhere, twigs and sticks, dry grass and feathers, leaves and rootlets are being turned into Grand Designs for free.

This was one of my female Blackbirds this morning with her latest bundle to be turned into shag-pile carpet for her nursery.

While right in front of my window where I sit tapping out these blogs I spied this fine-looking fella, as if sporting an Elizabethan ruff. 

That'll be a feather bedspread, then, for this particular pair of House Sparrows in one of my nestboxes.

But here was my favourite bit of recycling of the week. I was out yesterday on the project I'm doing with Barratt Homes at Kingsbrook, near Aylesbury, where we're working to raise the bar for wildlife-friendly housing.

There, next to some of the new houses, someone had mislaid a bobble-hat, and some kindly passing soul had popped it onto the end of a low fence. This had caught the eye of one of the Jackdaws that has moved in to Kingsbrook. The hat must have looked like a very curious old animal hide, but how about that fluffy 'tail' for some really luxurious nest-lining?!

The only problem - it does take some tugging to get a beakful!

So, make sure your outside space is full of prime recycling material for these wonderful homebuilders to choose from, and then sit back and enjoy their creativity in action.