This past spring I spent some wonderful time with a pair of Western Kingbirds as they constructed their nest. Well, truth be told the female actually did all of the heavy work but the male did his part by watching her closely and making sure she did everything just right…
1/2500, f/8, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
Here she’s flying into the nest with nesting material. She often had to perform some pretty fancy maneuvers as she approached because of obstructing twigs, which made for some interesting flight postures but it also made the photography tricky because of her unpredictable approach.
I like so many things about this shot but then that twig had to poke into her face and take some of the luster off for me…
1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
In this image she’s leaving the nest from the same access point she used in the first image – you can recognize the same twigs below her. These were always explosive exits and I didn’t succeed in many of my attempts to capture her leaving.
Sadly, this attempt at nesting failed. The nest was mostly gone when I came back after one of my camping trips and the birds were nowhere around.
Ron
I’m on the road again and likely will be for much of the week. As usual for these camping/photo trips I’ve prepared posts to be published in my absence but I’ll mostly be without internet access so I won’t be very active here while I’m gone. I do enjoy reading any comments you may make on my phone, though.
Ditto Susan. These birds perform amazing acrobatics every day to construct their nests. The photo nails a capability that must be repeated many times daily. Human gymnasts would loose in an agility contest with birds.
Although humans’ running endurance surpasses that of dogs, it is so much less than the migrations many bird species accomplish each year.
This blog continues to amaze me concerning birds’ capabilities.
i like the pose in the first, impressive agility.
I saw the title and thought Ron has some images he likes. Wonders will never cease. Read the post and discover that, as usual, your nit-picking self has found a flaw.
While you are busy beating up on yourself, keep the other hand free to pat yourself on the back. Your images and your research and your knowledge are a daily education and delight.
Have a great trip.
I second your ‘motion’. Well said!
Beautiful close-up behavioral photos!
We are studying birds right now in our homeschool. I told my children that each day we are going to read this blog and learn about the birds. I got the usual, “What? Every day? Do we have to?” that accompanies anything I say we are going to start doing that they think is more work or boring, etc. Then I showed them this post. They were fascinated and said, “Okay, we can read this blog every day.”
These are fun shots, and to me, the twig in the face helps to show how complicated the approach to the next is. What I want to know is, how is it that the males have been watching the females build nests for so long and have never managed to learn how to do it themselves…? 🙂 Your posts about Western Kingbirds have gotten me interested in these birds. I see them fly a little bit out at Hueco Tanks, and am hoping to find an opportunity to see more of their activities and behaviors.
Wonderful shots! Have a wonderful time and take lots of shots.
One of my favorite birds. The first shot is interesting. How the bird held in mid air for a bit.