Bluebird Pair

Gallery: Man & NaturePosted May 26, 201148 views3 comments

I have yet to get photos of Avian Gallery quality, but maybe this will "fly" here as a story of Man & Nature that is both nice and sad.

Our condo has a nest box mounted on a tree, with Eastern Bluebirds nesting every few years. This pair was successfully raising a brood of three healthy babies. The male arrived with food, which he promptly fed through the opening. The female came a second later and stayed on top of the box after the male flew off.

I set the tripod and telephoto for a wide view to the right, to catch incoming flights at 8 frames/second. This is what remained after cropping about 80%, so is somewhat fuzzy and noisy.

Sadly nothing was left in the nest the next day; obviously a predator found them at night, most likely a snake or raccoon. Bluebird experts provide predator guards, but we did not.

Canon 7D, 75-300mm lens at 140mm, f/5, 1/1000, ISO 500.

Comments welcome and appreciated. Dave Thomas, Leesburg, Virginia

Comments

3 comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on May 27, 2011 at 10:51 PM

This would be a wonderful image David were it not for the OOF birds. Sorry to hear a predator got them and their family in the end.

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on May 28, 2011 at 8:38 PM

A common story. I think we tend to forget that where there is prey, there will be predators. Sometimes I think I'm filling my birdfeeder with chickadees just to chum in the hawks. Sigh. If you took this very recently, the pair probably has time to attempt a second brood. Thanks for sharing

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by David Thomas on May 28, 2011 at 9:57 PM

Thanks to both.

The photo was taken just two days before posting, so we can hope. Fortunately we have another nesting pair nearby. So far they are doing fine, but I check each day with trepidation. If they survive, perhaps I will post a Man & Nature image from them, too.

PS: We also have nesting red-shouldered hawks, but too high up to get good photos with my equipment. Fortunately, small birds are uncommon prey for them.

Registered on June 21, 2010, 30 Posts, 178 Comments