Sunday 20 September 2015

CBeebies - 'Nina and the Neurons' and nest building

A BBC 'CBeebies' programme that will be of interest to young children interested in birds is currently available on iPlayer for another 3 weeks or so - 'Nina and the Neurons' and an episode on how birds build their nests. 'Nina and the Neurons' is a science series aimed at kids aged 4-6, and with the help of some simple experiments, answers questions posed by young children - in this episode the question being "How do birds build nests?".

My children are rather older than the age group this programme is aimed at - I am aware of the series and of this episode in particular because it was a lovely surprise a little while ago to be contacted by the show's production team who asked if they could use a couple of my photos to illustrate two of the bird species whose very different nests they would be displaying; a Long-tailed Tit with its wonderful elastic nest made from mosses and lichens held together by spider silk, and also a Blackbird with their solid nest (typically built by the female) of grasses, leaves and moss lined with neatly plastered mud. The Blackbird and Long-tailed Tit photos had just been taken in our garden. There was also a lovely photo of a Reed Warbler (not one of mine) and an example of its nest - a beautiful construction of intertwined grasses and reed flowers which is woven around the stems of Common Reed (Phragmites australis) in their watery reedbed homes.

A couple of screenshots from the programme below;


And one of the original images, taken in spring;

Male Blackbird


2 comments:

  1. Yay, congratulations on getting your images on TV Jan, very well deserved.

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    1. Thanks very much Dougie, not quitting the day job just yet, more's the pity!!!!!!!!! :)

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