The alien shapes stuck to phone-line poles and making them look like lone trees in South Africa’s Kalahari Desert are the biggest birds’ nests in the world.
They are built of twigs and grass by the weaver bird and can each house more than 100 pairs.
Photographer Dillon Marsh, from Cape Town, said: In the vast barren landscapes of the southern Kalahari, sociable weaver birds assume ownership of the telephone poles that cut across their habitat.
“Their burgeoning nests are at once inertly statuesque and teeming with life.
"The twigs and grass collected to build these nests combine to give strangely recognisable personalities to the otherwise inanimate poles.
“I had seen these nests as a child while on a holiday with my family and their impressive size had mesmerised me.
"I had started to develop an interest in the relationship between people and the environment, and these nests struck me as the perfect subject matter.
“I spent three days exploring the area around the town of Upington in South Africa which forms part of the Kalahari Desert.
"I used a 4x5 view camera to take the photographs and because of the high costs of the film and developing, I took just one photo of each nest.
"This was the first time I had used such a camera, so I was very happy to get the results that I did.”
bird city.
