LEAVING THE NEST, IT’S SCARY!

Young House Wrens leaving the nest

It has been already a week ago but I still like to share this little photo story with you. This is already the third brood of House Wrens that was a successful one this summer season in one of the nest boxes around the house. When the parents think it is time for the offspring to leave the nest they still bring food, like caterpillars, crickets, or bugs but they wait outside the nest box without feeding the little chicks inside. When the first one stuck more than its head out of the hole I knew the time was coming and made the camera ready. Number one didn’t hesitate very long and flew into the bushes nearby after about five minutes. Number two, the one on the right hand side in the picture, waited a few minutes longer, despite the parents called and tried to lure the little guy away from the nest. Well, the desire to eat made the chick finally jump, but only onto the little perch that sticks out of the nest box. There was fear about what’s coming next and he tried to climb back into the box. But no way, number three was already there and the entrance was blocked. Oh boy, after a few seconds of balancing on the wooden stick the young wren finally followed the parents into the woods. Number three didn’t hesitate very long and the nest box was empty.

It’s still early in the season and we hear again a couple male House Wrens around here sending calls out to attract another female. It has been a good breeding season so far, not just for the wrens. We see many young birds around here in the woods and that’s a good thing to write about and to capture it with our photos.

A HUNGRY BUNCH

Feeding time for the American Robin nestlings

Four little necks go up in the air as soon as one of the parents approaches the nest with food in their bill. This time it was enough for all four of the chicks what the father had found for them. Both parents feed the offspring. With the warm weather this weekend and a little bit of rain ones in a while the conditions are pretty good for finding worms, caterpillars, and other insects. It is amazing how fast the young Robins grow within just a few days.

The nest is on a wooden supporting structure for the grape vine branches that grow above our balcony. No, we don’t have a lot of grapes but the leaves that just start to pop out provide nice shade during the summer and help to keep the house cool.

I shot this picture from below through the glass of the balcony window.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm,   @200mm, 1/1000s, f/10, ISO2000

CARING BLUEBIRDS

Most of the time the parents call from different locations, either in nearby trees or from the top of the nest box. When both of them sat at this branch, it was only a question what bird to focus on. The female with an insect in its bill was the right choice.

The young Eastern Bluebirds in the nest box at my photography friend Kevin were almost ready to leave three days ago. I’m thankful that he called me and I still had a chance to take some pictures of the parent birds while they tried to lure the offspring out of the nest. Luckily they left not before the next day. It was a great setup with a small branch carefully placed not far from the nest box. Both parents waited sometimes several minutes with some food in their bill and quietly called the four nestlings.

The colorful male bluebird calls and lures with a little grub.

I used the 1.4 teleconverter, extending the focal length to 850 mm and allowing me to keep a safe distance to the nest. We did this last year at a different location in Kevin’s yard with the blue sky as a background. This year the green background of vegetation works actually much better for bluebirds and as a result I had a very high keeper rate. Thank you Kevin for arranging a great photo opportunity again!

The female is not as colorful but obviously found the bigger piece of food for the nestlings, a good size grasshopper.

All images: Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head,

CATBIRD STORIES, LAST UPDATE

Ready to leave the nest

I promised you another bird story but that still has to wait. Here is instead the last picture of our young Gray Catbirds from 7:37AM this morning. All four left the nest today and now we can hear their cat-like “mew” call from the surrounding bushes and trees. Catbirds leave the nest after about 11-13 days. They will be fed by both parents for approximately 12 more days after their departure.

CATBIRD STORIES

Last photo from this morning first. The four Gray Catbird nestlings were still doing well this morning. A peaceful bunch!!

For the first time ever a pair of Gray Catbirds, a species in the Mimidae family, has built a nest next to our house, in a mountain pine right beside our porch. Catbirds prefer dense tangles of shrubs, or small trees. The dense jungle of long needles in a a mugo pine seemed to be the right fit for this pair building their nest . I was on a business trip last week when the young catbirds hatched, but have used my camera ever since my return to document every day in their young life. The adult birds are very tolerant but nevertheless I use utmost caution when I make an image of the nest and its habitants. As always, the safety of the birds comes first. I limit my time shooting through the branches to a few seconds and use a long lens whenever possible to make an image. For photos like used in this little story, I do not hesitate to crop the picture, just to keep a safe distance and the birds unexcited about my presence while documenting their life.

May 30, 2022, two eggs were already in the nest, two more would follow within the next days.

The incubation of the eggs is done by the female but both parents feed the young buggers in the nest. The adults are relatively quiet during this time and their unique “mew” call, just like a cat, is heard more muted. They can do other songs as well, and if you are really interested the following link will give you a lot more details about this bird species and the calls they perform. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gray_Catbird/overview

June 18, 2022, Joan discovered them a day before my arrival back home. The young birds are brooded by the female for the first few days.

Friends and followers of my blog, I’m sorry for a long break here, but my work assignments didn’t allow for spending time in front of the computer. I tried at least to be behind the camera whenever I had a chance. I’m always grateful that you take the time to look at my photography and give me your input about it, or the nature of my subjects!!

Beside the exciting moments in life of our Gray Catbirds another story was unfolding… Please stay tuned if you enjoy nature and/or photography as part of your life…!!!

June 19, 2022, The four young catbirds sleep for most of the day and keep their eyes closed. Yawning is the photographers moment!

June 20, 2022, An adult approaching carefully the nest with two snacks in its beak, a caterpillar and another bug. Good times…!!!

NATURE CLICKS #507 - BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER (AND MORE)

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

The Metadata of my picture library reveal that we have never seen a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at the height of the summer here in our woods. Occasionally I had one in late spring or very early summer in front of the lens. They move very fast up and down on the outer branches and shrubs in search for all kinds of small insects and spiders. This makes taking a sharp image that shows the whole bird a big challenge. You can’t really shoot from a tripod because it would make following the bird’s moves impossible. Changing position constantly and handholding the camera with the long lens is the best option as far as I’m concerned.

This bird is either a female or a juvenile that was born earlier this breeding season. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers can built up to seven nests during one season and have 1-2 broods. There are many reasons for nest loss or brood failure, from parasitism or mite infestation to predation.

Young House Wrens, ten hours before leaving the nest

By the way, our young House Wrens, I had posted about yesterday, Ieft the gourd with the nest this morning at sunrise. I saw the last one jumping into some house plants that we keep on the porch during the summer. Later I heard their chatter in the nearby woods. I hope they all will make it! The male House Wren is already on courtship again and tries to attract a female to one of the other nest boxes. All seasons during a year have exciting moments. The wrens leaving the nest is always one of them!

NATURE CLICKS #491 - BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD

Male Brown-headed Cowbird

The neotropical migrating birds are not even here yet but the cowbirds are already in position. The Brown-headed Cowbird is North America’s best known brood parasite. They do not built their own nests but instead lay the eggs in the nest of many other bird species. This is not always in favor of the host birds, because cowbirds hatch and develop faster and sometimes toss out other nestlings or eggs. This male cowbird posed nicely in the early morning sun today.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, @ 600 mm, 1/800 s, f/6.3, ISO200, cropped