Birds nest in gun barrel of Second World War Spitfire at Eden Camp

The ‘blue bullets’ have built a nest and taken up residence in the Mark 9 Spitfire, which is based at the Eden Camp Modern History Theme Museum near Malton, North Yorkshire.

These brilliant pictures show the pair of adult blue tits and their young - looking like they are being shot out of the gun barrel.

Jonny Pye, an archivist at the former prisoner of war camp, said the birds had been returning to the unusual nesting site for a number of years.

He said he looks forward to seeing the blue tits each year as it is “quite a sight to behold”.

The yellow and blue birds can be seen flying into the end of the aircraft’s 20mm cannon.

It is not known if the birds are the same each year - but Jonny said he feels like it is the same ‘pal’ returning to see him.

Jonny said: “It has happened every year for about six years now and it’s quite a sight to behold.

“It’s quite unusual to see tits nesting inside a Spitfire so it’s pretty amazing.

“We think it might even be the same bird each year.

“It looks quite cosy in there, they like to stay near the wing.”

Popular tourist destination Eden Camp is a family owned and run business that started more than 30 years ago.

Originally a prisoner of war camp, it was built on an agricultural plot on the outskirts of Malton in early 1942, by a small contingent of army personnel who had travelled from Castle Douglas, Scotland.

Their task was to construct a barbed wire enclosure and erect tents to form a temporary camp to accommodate Italian prisoners of war who had been captured by Allied forces.

The Italian prisoners gave way to German POWs in the summer of 1944.