Reed Warblers-superb nesters!

This morning we managed to find the nest of one of the two pairs of Reed Warblers nesting on a small irrigation pool, which is developing a strip of Phragmites reeds round the perimeter. The nest was most unusual--every one of the (many) nests I've found over the years has been a simple brown grassy cup with no adornments inside or outside the nest. This one was very different:-

As you can see there's lots of white stuff mainly on the outside. Not quite sure what it is but it's s new one on me. We couldn't see what was on the inside because the chicks were well grown and filled the cup. We decided that if we had tried to ring the chicks they would probably have been very difficult to persuade to stay in the cup so we left them alone after the picture. A good learning experience for the trainees.
We couldn't find the second nest but it didn't really matter because the chicks had obviously fledged --one of which we caught in a nearby mist net:-

You can see the still growing tail, and the yellow flanges at the base of the bill which provide a very conspicuous "gape" when the chick begs for food--this provides a superb target for the parents to aim at with beaks full of food.
Just for good measure here is one of the adults we also caught nearby.

We hope these will be the first of many Reed Warblers over the coming months--of which more later.