I spent a long time watching with no small degree of admiration, the work of this female blackbird as she built her nest. I didn't see the beginning of the nest, as she'd already built the base before I came along. She made repeated forays from the nest, returning after about 6 minutes, with a mouth full of long fibres, as here. Then she spent about 5 minutes weaving them around the cattail stalks securing the nest.