We had a beautiful long tailed tit's nest in the bush directly in front of our lounge window. The nest had been completed by the 14th April, and on the 19th of April I saw one of the parents sitting in the nest.
We haven't seen the parents for a while, almost a week or so. This is strange as before they had been seen coming and going near the nest and the front garden, and tapping on our windows.
I took a look today, and the nest had been completely ripped in half: the top section including their little entrance hole was hanging off to the side. I had a look inside, and there are probably 7/8 nestlings, only a few days old if that, completely lifeless, nestled together.
What could have caused this? The parents must have been there at some point, there are no egg shells in the nest. What can we do to prevent this happening?
I am not sure if your aware of the law or not but its actually an offence to interfere with a nest during breeding season. I know we all want whats best for the birds but when we interfere that's usually when things goes wrong. Please do not try and clear out the nest ..as sad as it is it will probably up being food for another bird/animal. It could have been a cat/ fox / magpie...its hard to tell. I don't see what can be done other than let nature be.... as cruel as it is sometimes ;-)