![\"marsh](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/marsh-wren-0140-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a01\/5000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 500 f\/4 II, 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Yesterday I spent some time with this male Marsh Wren at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.\u00a0 He seemed to be in the process of nest-building which is understandable since males construct as many as 22 dummy nests per nesting season.\u00a0 He would occasionally pop up into view and scold me from a distance.\u00a0 I chose a rather unconventional composition for this shot to include the entire seed head of the cattail.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 500 f\/4 II, 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0The flexibility of their tail always amazes me – just look at the angle of the tail to the body here!\u00a0 I was surprised that something didn’t break back there…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 500 f\/4 II, 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I know this bird was a male because only males sing and this one was putting his heart and soul into the effort.\u00a0 The song of the Marsh Wren<\/a> isn’t appreciated by everyone.\u00a0 One researcher described it as “deficient and contemptible” and even Audubon\u00a0compared the \u201csong, if song I may call it… [to]… the grating of a rusty hinge.\u201d\u00a0 Amazingly, males have to learn up to 200 different song types so perhaps they’re to be forgiven if each of those songs is not aesthetically pleasing to our ears.\u00a0 These birds sing loudly\u00a0both day and night.<\/p>\n I had plenty of light so I chose a fast shutter speed for these\u00a0images because when they’re singing their mandibles move very fast and I wanted to get them sharp.\u00a0 I was also trying for take-off shots but I cut off parts of the bird every time.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For me, male Marsh Wrens in springtime epitomize the word “frenzied” as they flit from cattail to cattail defending nesting territory, attracting and mating with multiple females and building many “dummy” nests. And their singing is almost constant.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n