Mystery bird nest (Updated 230518)
Updated photo 080518
Luck, coincidence or just intelligent planning, who knows? But this bird has certainly found the perfect nesting place. I am not sure what bird it is as the photo shows only a tail and beak. (I have since identified the bird as a black redstart and above in the nest is the female. I have yet to see the male he seems to be keeping a low profile.)
The genius of this nesting location is that it is perched on top of an automatic hall light that comes on whenever anybody enters. So when someone disturbs the bird the light comes on, the bird flies away and the eggs are kept warm by the heat from the lamp.
I managed one photo of inside the nest with my mobile phone showing five plain white eggs. BTW This photo would never have been possible with any sort of camera. Amazing, in focus too! So I will keep you posted on the progress, which hopefully will lead to a successful outcome. Watch this space for updates!
Update 19052018
Well, what a surprise this morning (18052018). I photographed the nest yesterday while the adult was away but she returned while I was snooping and fled again on seeing me, so I quickly cut short my inspection. I could see no eggs in my snatched photo and spent most of the night going over what could have happened to them. This morning still somewhat distressed about it I looked at my photos again and realized that I had not actually photographed inside the nest as it is quite a small space even to get a mobile phone into. So I tried again today while the adult was away and above is the result (photo on the left). The chicks had hatched but showed no sign of life presumably because they were all still sleeping. I saw the adult later in the nest so all looks well at present.
Update 19052018
Finally managed to capture the adult bird, which I think is a black redstart. I checked the nest again today (see nest photo on the right). The chicks have grown more black hair (feathers) but there was still no signs of life. Nevertheless the adult continues to sit on them so I suppose they will eventually burst into life when they are hungry.
Update 23052018
I try and inspect the nest once a day when the adults are away, usually in the morning. The chicks have grown remarkably in five days but I have yet to hear them or even see them move. I am not able to see directly into the nest and only have mobile photos for reference. So maybe they are moving about. There are clearly five healthy chicks, photo far right was taken today (23rd) and I expect this weekend there will be plenty of chirping for food.
The challenges and frustrations of photographing birds.
Meanwhile, later that afternoon I hang around the nest hoping for some better photos and notice a metal tub full of water that is attracting many birds. The first bird I spot is a nuthatch just feet away but my camera is on flash ready for the nest bird and all I get are misty images of the nuthatch taken through a window. I wait and various birds come and go but finding a suitable setting on my camera eludes me. My usual setting for wildlife (high speed, point focus) proves to be useless as the tub is in the shadows and sends the ISO up to 1600 resulting in horrible grainy images. The birds are nervous and the autofocus fixes on anything but the birds. When I do get a reasonable shot the bird has its back to me or its head turned. Then the nest bird arrives and joins its nest, now I need flash again ... and what was the setting I had when using the flash .... Hmm.
Well the final results were very disappointing and not a single photo could be used in the end. However I have posted these shots to show some of the birds I came across ... a bullfinch, warbler, siskin and greenfinch ... maybe tomorrow I will have better luck.
Update: 080518 ... a couple of days later I manage to capture the nuthatch! The siskin, greenfinch and a robin also drop by.
Update 19052018
Well, what a surprise this morning (18052018). I photographed the nest yesterday while the adult was away but she returned while I was snooping and fled again on seeing me, so I quickly cut short my inspection. I could see no eggs in my snatched photo and spent most of the night going over what could have happened to them. This morning still somewhat distressed about it I looked at my photos again and realized that I had not actually photographed inside the nest as it is quite a small space even to get a mobile phone into. So I tried again today while the adult was away and above is the result (photo on the left). The chicks had hatched but showed no sign of life presumably because they were all still sleeping. I saw the adult later in the nest so all looks well at present.
Update 19052018
Finally managed to capture the adult bird, which I think is a black redstart. I checked the nest again today (see nest photo on the right). The chicks have grown more black hair (feathers) but there was still no signs of life. Nevertheless the adult continues to sit on them so I suppose they will eventually burst into life when they are hungry.
Update 23052018
I try and inspect the nest once a day when the adults are away, usually in the morning. The chicks have grown remarkably in five days but I have yet to hear them or even see them move. I am not able to see directly into the nest and only have mobile photos for reference. So maybe they are moving about. There are clearly five healthy chicks, photo far right was taken today (23rd) and I expect this weekend there will be plenty of chirping for food.
The challenges and frustrations of photographing birds.
Meanwhile, later that afternoon I hang around the nest hoping for some better photos and notice a metal tub full of water that is attracting many birds. The first bird I spot is a nuthatch just feet away but my camera is on flash ready for the nest bird and all I get are misty images of the nuthatch taken through a window. I wait and various birds come and go but finding a suitable setting on my camera eludes me. My usual setting for wildlife (high speed, point focus) proves to be useless as the tub is in the shadows and sends the ISO up to 1600 resulting in horrible grainy images. The birds are nervous and the autofocus fixes on anything but the birds. When I do get a reasonable shot the bird has its back to me or its head turned. Then the nest bird arrives and joins its nest, now I need flash again ... and what was the setting I had when using the flash .... Hmm.
Well the final results were very disappointing and not a single photo could be used in the end. However I have posted these shots to show some of the birds I came across ... a bullfinch, warbler, siskin and greenfinch ... maybe tomorrow I will have better luck.
Update: 080518 ... a couple of days later I manage to capture the nuthatch! The siskin, greenfinch and a robin also drop by.
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