FEEDING THE SECOND BROOD

Male House Wren (German: Zaunkönig) waiting for his turn to feed the offspring with a good size spider

Our House Wrens are currently feeding their second brood. The little wrens grow rapidly and started making noise in the nest box. The parents are great, coming in with spiders, caterpillars, and insects every few minutes. The first brood this year was successfully raised already in June and behind the house, at another nest box, is a second wren couple busy feeding their offspring. The warm weather we had lately provides an abundance of supply for the little birds and we just enjoy watching them from our porch during “cocktail hour” in the evening.

1/40 s, f/6.3, ISO 200, @ 600 mm, -1/3 EV, flash -5.0 EV; with Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender;

NATURE CLICKS #426 - YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO

I have been in Green Island during the last couple weekends and the situation is different than at any other time before. Due to the very high water level some parts parts of the wetlands are not accessible by car because the main road is flooded. The surrounding fields are also under water and much of the waterfowl can be found outside of the boundaries of the wildlife management area and the bird refuge. Well, there is still plenty to see and with open eyes you may find a bird that is not always in the front row.

This was only the second time that I found a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in the wetlands. This bird came all the way from South America where they spend the winter. The cuckoo moved around in a small grove of willows and picked up caterpillars, its preferred food. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get closer and so I cropped this photo to make it work.