Great tits

Across from my kitchen window some great tits are nesting in a hole in the hotel woodwork. It is a bit far away to get decent portrait photos so I have made this montage of photos I took of them this morning. 

The top two birds in the montage shows the male above the female. Interestingly the female took up exactly the same position and pose as the male so to avoid overlapping them I dropped her down a little. Both had food in their beaks, the female seem to have a rather large grotesque looking spider and the male had a beak full of what looked like grubs. 

Strangely they have been clearing out the nest since I have been watching as can be seen in the bottom image. Both birds have been carrying out nesting material. Maybe as the chicks are growing they are making more space for them.

The female with a juicy spider waits in a nearby tree and keeps an eye on me before heading for the nest. When I am around they are much more cautious about visiting the nest and sometimes hang around for ages. I felt like piggy in the middle as they both waited in nearby trees each side of me calling to each other, which can't be easy with a beak full of grub.