LEAVING THE NEST, IT’S SCARY!

July 26, 2024

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.

CARING PARENTS

May 10, 2024

Male Eastern Bluebird with food in its bill, observing the environment before entering the nearby nest box. @ 850 mm, 1/320 s, f/9, ISO 2000, photo slightly cropped.

We have quite a few stories going on here with birds building a nest or having it already and feed their young ones somewhere around the house. Not for the first time a pair of American Robins built it right on our balcony and they are very busy since a few days, stuffing food into four hungry bills that stick out of the nest.

In the backyard is a bluebird nest box but the last couple years the more aggressive House Wrens took it over and the bluebirds had no chance. Finally this season a pair of Eastern Bluebirds were able to incubate and now the parents started feeding their offspring. How many bird babies are in the nest? We don’t know yet and we do our best not to disturb the birds.

@ 600 mm, 1/400 s, f/7.1, ISO 1000, photo slightly cropped.

I placed myself with the tripod next to some bushes beside our house and wanted to blend in as much as possible. The bluebirds did not hesitate to fly with food to the nest, a sure sign they accepted my presence and didn’t see me as a danger. They land first in a nearby tree and observe the environment of the nest box before they actually enter the entrance hole. The first photo was made at such a perch and I used the 1.4 teleconverter plus a little bit of cropping in post process to keep a safe distance. No picture justifies a threat to the life and well being of an animal.

BUSY BLUEBIRDS

July 10, 2023

There was some hope a few weeks ago that we may have a pair of Eastern Bluebirds building a nest in a special nest box I provided for them. They tried, but we have a number of House Wrens here in the woods and the males are pretty aggressive and kick any other bird out of a cavity if it is within their claimed territory. So, no bluebird nest again this year in our backyard. I never mind seeing the wrens raising their offspring but it would be nice having young bluebirds as well. Luckily my photography friend Kevin has a pair of bluebirds again this year in one of the nest boxes he installed near his house and he invited me for a shooting session while the parents fed the offspring in the nest last weekend.

Male bluebird, checking the surroundings before entering the nest box

There were some interesting observations to be made. During the whole time, more than an hour, the female didn’t feed the young birds at all. She had food available and in its bill and seemed to act as a backup. The male flew in and kept feeding the brood from time to time. I saw the female swallowing a caterpillar and coming back quickly with another one, but she never entered the nest box. I’m not sure if she gave some of her catch to the male, but he was the only bird feeding their offspring.

Kevin and I had plenty of opportunities making a photo of the female bird while she posed nicely on a branch near the nest box. The males are a lot more colorful but the busy bird flew most of the time directly to the wooden box, checked the surrounding area for any possible danger, and quickly went into the entrance hole. Good times as always, and my thanks go out to Kevin for giving me the opportunity for this photo shoot!

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

MESSING WITH A DRAGONFLY

June 25, 2023

Many birds feed their offspring right now and among them are the Tree Swallows. Despite the gray sky in the background (yes, we finally had some rain!) I like to share a little story with you as it happened in the Green Island Wetlands today, shortly after the rain stopped.

GUARDING THE OFFSPRING

April 25, 2023

I saw quite a few Canada Geese sitting on nests during the month of April and so it was not a surprise to see the first pairs with their offspring last weekend. This pair had obviously five little goslings while another one I saw guided only two through the waters at Green Island. The parents are extremely protective and guard their offspring very well.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, @ 600 mm, 1/800 s, f/8, ISO 1000

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, @ 490 mm, 1/800 s, f/8, ISO 1250

CARING BLUEBIRDS

July 17, 2022

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,

THE WREN STORY

June 25, 2022

This photo was made less than a minute before #2 left the nest for good. The little guy was called by the parents and when it had its feet out of the hole, I knew the fledgling would not return.

I’m sorry, it happened already five days ago, but life stood in the way and as you probably figured out by my recent blog posts, other events here in the woods above the Little Maquoketa Valley have been worth to share with you as well. Our young House Wrens left their nest box last week and even if we watch this since seventeen years now every summer, it’s always a good reason to celebrate the wonders of nature.

First landing place was between a patch of iris flowers that just were done blooming.

Oh, I can hold on to a tree! The parents watch every step and don’t let any other bird even come close to their offspring.

After two wrens had left the nest the parents kept feeding two more in the bird box. They did not leave until the nest morning.

Live goes on, while all of the above still happened, the male House Wren sent out enticing calls to attract the same or another female for a next round of breeding. However, his eyes were also kept on the offspring of the first brood.

JOGGING FOR BEST POSITION

July 23, 2021

As always, this time of the year the young House Wrens are jogging for the best position at the entrance of the nesting place the parents have chosen. This time it is an old gourd that hangs from the edge on the side of our porch since many years. The wrens have used it before. The nearby wooden nest boxes we have in the front yard are not used at the moment, but might if another brood will happen this summer. I saw at least three nestlings and it will not take long until they leave the hollow pumpkin. The parents feed every few minutes and the prey they deliver into the hungry bills gets a little bigger every day.

I try to stay away from the nest while taking my pictures and employ the long lens at 600 mm focal length and crop a little bit in addition. It was too dark under the roof of the porch this evening and the speed light was used towards the ceiling to bounce some light at the birds.

It isn’t the only pair of House Wrens that feed their offspring around here. There is another brood in a nest box behind the house and we can hear some chatter from our neighbors backyard as well. We are happy to have them here every summer.

LAST DAY IN THE NEST

July 26, 2020

I’m glad I created these pictures of our House Wrens yesterday morning. When the food the parents bring to the young wrens gets really big, like this moth, we know the time the offspring will leave the nest is near. I saw at least three young wrens jockey for the “window spot” and for the best meals. Well, they left the nest box yesterday evening. Unfortunately I wasn’t there when it happened. It was the second successful brood for the House Wrens in one of our nest boxes this year. But who knows what happens next? We have several pairs in our neighborhood and during some years we witnessed fledglings leaving the nest last week of August…

FEEDING THE SECOND BROOD

July 17, 2020

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;

AT THE BARN SWALLOWS

June 11, 2020

I had again the pleasure to follow an invitation of my photography friend Kevin this evening for shooting at an old barn he owns at the edge of town. The main attraction is several pairs of Barn Swallows that have their nests under the ceiling and feed their offspring. I heard the young birds when parents arrived with food, but they were obviously still too little and we couldn’t see them. The barn doors are open and the building is surrounded by meadows, grassland, and some weed patches. With other words, there is an abundance of insects and enough food for the little birds.

This location requires a lot of thinking about the light. Shooting in the barn required a flash as the main light source. With the open doors light pours in also from the outside and the question is, how can we use flash and ambient light solely or in combination for telling a story about the swallows and their summer habitat?

The first photo was shot through the open barn door. The swallow sits on an old rusty gate and the only light source is the low sitting sun. The trees behind the meadow are far away and provide a lovely soft background.

This bird sits on another one of the open doors. The grass in the back is in full sunlight and makes for a good background as well. A hint of flash takes care for the dark side of the swallow inside the barn.

Same location as photo #2 but for a brief moment the sun was hidden by a cloud and I chose a much shorter exposure time for the ambient light. The flash doesn’t overpower the bird and with 1/800 s I was able to nail the gesture the Barn Swallow made at that moment.

Kevin had photographed in the barn earlier this week already and today he tried to make a picture of a Barn Swallow with open wings, approaching a resting place. That is quite a challenge! He pre-focussed on a particular spot and waited for his chance but the birds did not use this place as often as earlier this week.

My thanks goes to Kevin for inviting me! I had again a great time!

TOO LATE!!!

June 8, 2020

Downy Woodpecker tries to deliver some food

I took a break from posting in the blog over the weekend and to no surprise at this time of the year nature stories have piled up…

Last Saturday, and still very early Sunday morning, I saw a little head peaking out of the nest cavity in our dying maple tree. Well, I guess I took too much time drinking the morning coffee and go up on the roof over the porch with tripod and camera. Finally, about 9:30AM I stood there like a week before (see my earlier post) and aimed the lens again at the woodpecker hole. After half an hour without any activities I started wondering. Don’t the little Downy Woodpeckers need any food? Where are the parents?

After 45 minutes the male downy showed up with a big insect in its bill (2nd photo). He stuck his head into the hole but came out with the food still in the beak. After several attempts he flew away. Ten minutes later he showed up again (photo #1) and wasn’t able to deliver his nice snack either. Did the lady of the house not tell him that the offspring left the nest this morning? I hope he finally found them in another tree and was able to deliver his prey. I haven’t seen any young ones yet but keep looking out for them…

ON THE ROOF

May 21, 2020

The bad thing is, the big sugar maple right in front of the house is dying, slowly but surely. Half of the canopy is already without leaves and every day another piece of bark or a branch is found in the grass below. We know we need to cut the tree down soon because there is a good chance it may fall onto the house in a storm or strong wind. It will be a sad day, no matter what.

The good thing is, the Downy Woodpeckers took the opportunity, drilled holes in one of the dead branches, and raise their offspring in the tree right now. As you can imagine, we hold the tree cutting for now.

The photographer took the ladder today and climbed onto the roof of the porch. Everything was with me, camera, long lens, tripod , gimbal head, speed light, and flash extender. Even on the roof the nest hole was still a bit higher but I found a gap between the branches to make this photo.

The Downy Woodpeckers are around here all year long and are really used to our presence. Sometimes, if I fill a feeder in the yard, they don’t fly away unless I come in a range of less than 3 feet. Both parents feed the offspring. While one is out to find food, the other one is in the nesting hole and guards it. The chance for a photo is when they have the “changing of the guard”.

Here the female downy arrives and shows the male what she had in her bill. A second later the male would leave the nest and let the female take his place. I was running out of light this evening (did I mention yet that we had another gray day with almost no sun? 😏) and the only way to shoot against the gray sky was to employ some fill flash. I left the ladder in place and maybe this weekend is another chance for some interesting moments.

1/320 s, f/6.3, ISO 400, @600 mm, +1 EV, flash -1.7 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;

PIC OF THE DAY

July 23, 2019

We watched the female House Wren carefully going in and out of the hole at the nest box in our front yard for the last 2 weeks. She sat on a clutch of eggs. The male wren guarded the home and tried to lure every potential predator away by singing and drawing the attention to himself instead to the nest location. Today was the moment we were waiting for. While enjoying a cool drink on our porch this evening we saw both parents bringing food to the nest. Sure sign that there is some new life in the box. I don’t think it ever happened during all the years that I had both parents in front of the lens at the same time during this crucial period of time.

The female on the left arrived first with some food in her bill on the roof of the nest box. The male was also a successful hunter and handed his prey to her, just a second after this click was made. She managed to take both and deliver it to their offspring. We watch the House Wrens every year raising their offspring somewhere around the house, but believe me, it is still an excitement for us to be a witness.

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.

BUSY BLUEBIRD PARENTS

July 10, 2019

A couple days a go I received a call from my photography friend Kevin, inviting me for a backyard shooting at his house in the evening. A pair of Eastern Bluebirds were feeding their offspring, three little chicks in a bird box. Kevin builds nest boxes, not just for his land, also for public places like Swiss Valley. He had set up a nice perch near the nest and all what we had to do was waiting for the parents with some food in their bills. Almost every time they came with insects, larva, or spiders the bluebirds used the perch to observe the surrounding before they safely approached the entrance to the box.

We sat comfortably in lawn chairs behind our tripods, had good conversation, and clicked away when the action took place. The low sun provided relativ soft light and it was not necessary to use any flash for color boost or to fill in the shadows.

Eastern Bluebirds are some of the prettiest birds we have here and they are very photogenic. The blue of the female’s wing feathers is a lot paler than the male’s but both parents put the same efforts in to find enough food for the chicks.

This was the shot Kevin and I were hoping for, both adult bluebirds with food in their bills on the perch at the same time. It happened only once this evening but we used this opportunity. I usually shoot with the long lens wide open at f/6.3 but here I had it set to f/8. This provided of course still not enough depth of field for having both birds in sharp focus. The focus was on the male at the top but the photo summarizes the story of this evening.

It is always fun to shoot together with Kevin and I’m thankful again for sharing a great photo opportunity.