Nesting in the Sun

I was driving through a neighborhood looking for something sweet or unusual. A bird flew out of the mouth of this clay sun sculpture. As I continued to watch, it flew into the eye with nesting material, then out of the mouth again.

Calling of shift change

Calling for mom

This is a Red shouldered hawk nest in our yard. The pair nested here last year as well.

Gannet Nest Building

In June 2008 I was in a wood-framed blind photographing Northern Gannets as hundreds of them flew to and from their nests on the ground. On several occasions I spotted one bird that flew up over my end of the blind but did not show up on the other side. I went out to investigate, climbed a tree next to the blind, and found this pair building a nest on the blind’s slate roof. Although my position was very awkward for holding my camera, I got several nice shots, including this one of the pair working together to build their nest.

Nesting Hummer

While visiting the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum and their amazing Hummingbird House, I had a great time watch the various hummers buzz around. But it’s always fascinating to see these active birds when they stop. So glad for the Museum; so grateful for this shot.

Carefully built nest

Coming in to check on babies

Eastern Kingbirds “Dock Birds”

Eastern Kingbirds “Dock Birds”

Watching for Mom!

Barn Swallow spotted on vacation.

Cliff Swallow in Nest

Eastern Phoebe on Nest

Insulating My Nest Box

Pygmy Nuthatches will use animal fur and feathers to insulate their nest box. This image shows the nuthatch filling one of the seams with fur.

Claiming Our Nest

Swallows claiming their nest. Nest found at the visitor’s center at Glacier National Park, MT.

Under Construction

Great Blue Herons building their nest. Male giving female stick to place in nest.

Broad-tailed hummer nest

Broad-tailed hummers hide their nests well. This one is in a large blue spruce – and the nest is hard to see even when knowing where it is. The two babies are about 20 days old in this photo.

A Watchful Mother

Mother Barn Swallow

Nesting Swan

Mom & Chicks

Family Matters

Mourning dove nesting in cactus

Mother in Waiting

I was walking down the road leading to the lake when I heard the alarm calls of two Killdeer. I immediately saw the male about 10 feet in front of me doing its broken wing act; I was having a difficult time locating the other one that was louder. I then looked down and I was only 3 feet from the female who was guarding the nest; she wasn’t happy. I backed off a bit and shot some photos. There were three eggs on that day but three days later there were four.

Laying the Foundation

I was out at the lake to get some photos when I saw the male Baltimore Oriole weaving this nest. This appears to be day one of construction and the nest was complete three days later.

Great-Blue Heron Nest

Almost there

A Herring Gull chick is almost out of his shell

Coming Out Party

A chick working its way out of its egg.

Nest of the King

Kingbird watching over the nest

Nest transplantation

Where I work a tree was being taken down when the nest was found. The landscapers ‘transplanted’ the nest in another tree. I was concerned about the babies, so after work I sat in my car and watched to make sure that Momma robin found the nest. Shortly, there she was. With a worm in her mouth, she stepped on the nest and the nest fell to the ground. I was very sad until I remembered that I had zip ties in the trunk of my car. I used a dozen ties to secure the nest. I placed the babies in the nest and once again I was in my car waiting for Momma. Sure enough, she showed up with dinner for the babies. All three babies fledged the following week.

A Nest of Dreams

As a beginning birder I was thrilled when two Bullock’s Orioles appeared in our Colorado yard. The young female spent weeks carefully weaving her nest as our cattle dogs sat mesmerized. Sadly, four days after her eggs were laid a hailstorm destroyed her future family and home. The young Oriole pair circled leafless trees and their chosen nesting area for several days before leaving our home. Now it is our turn to be patient for their return.

All Nests Great and Small

Bullocks Oriole and Nest

Along Snake River, Centennial Park, Melba, ID 26 June 2015

happy family

osprey nest

Building that Best Nest

Bluebird building nest in nest box. Six eggs were laid.

River Nesting

Osprey and Chick

Osprey and chick in Everglades National Park.

House Wren

They won’t stay dry outside the umbrella!

close to home

Somehow the bird made a pocket on umbrella to make a nest in a place that gets a fair amount of foot traffic. 3 feet from grill and 2 foot from the house.

Strangest Nest? Probably!!

I am not kidding you, they are actually nesting in this gutter!! I stood there and watched them go in and out about 3-4 times in 60 seconds!! Carrying food!!!

A Colony

Swallows flying in & out of their mud nests

Baby Wood Ducks underneath Mom

Killdeer Nest

An adult killdeer shades eggs in the nest on an exceptionally hot day.

Mama Mallard

One spring after the asparagus harvest was through, a mallard hen took over the asparagus bed with her nest.

Safety For More Than Just Helicopters!

Around the perimeter of a field where emergency helicopters sometimes land, there are orange marker balls to indicate power lines. Every year, a swallow family moves into one of them and raises a little family 🙂

Just checking

Red-shouldered hawk male or female since the adults are identical with two offspring about 14 days of age. nest is in a high sycamore tree.

Prairie Surprise!

The Prairies of Minnesota are homes to many hidden treasures. Hidden in the tall grass, a Blue Wing Teal secretly incubates her future brood.

Great Architecture

A Mother American Robin patiently sits in the perfectly level nest she helped build on the slanted downspout under the protective eaves of our home.

screech owl in tree cavity

I never would have seen this owl if I hadn’t heard a flock of chickadees scolding it.

Screech owl’s cozy house

This screech owl roosted in the house I put up all winter. His camouflage was perfect.

Violet-Green Swallow Feather Nest

My Violet-Green Swallow Family had a gorgeous nest full of beautiful feathers. This picture was taken when the hatchlings were about 3 days old.

Red tail Hawk

The Red tail Hawk nest was viewed from the 3rd floor of the Huntsville Public library.
An extraordinary event to watch and photograph,the nest was built in a pine tree 7ft
from window which gave an excellent opportunity to view without disturbance to birds.

Porch rail bird-box.

Had a family of black-capped chickadees on our front porch railings. They came and went while were sitting on the porch. Mom & Dad, brought a lot of lime-green caterpillars back to the nest!

Sandhill crane on nest

First time, sandhills nesting on a local pond. Sitting on two eggs. Later, one successful hatch.

Home Tweet Home

In Mama’s View

Visiting my brother in Florida, he noticed my camera and thought to take me to visit Wakulla Springs to photograph the animals. I was new to photography, but instantly fell in love with this magical place. Best yet, it was breeding season and many of these beautiful birds were sitting on eggs or feeding their ‘new additions.’ As our boat came around a bend, I spotted this beautiful Great Egret with her 3 (visible) babies.

Killdeer nest

A pair of Killdeer made this nest on a gravel pathway in a busy garden center.

Home sweet home

Ruby Throated Hummingbird Nest

Amazing Ruby-throated Hummingbird nesting right outside our bedroom window.

The Rookery

There is an island at Kensington Metropark with several large trees that house a Great Blue Heron and Egret Rookery. This image shows about 8 Egret nests. I believe these are Great Egrets. I am guessing there were approximately 40 or so nests total in these trees.

Nest Mates

Three of the four nestlings two of which you can barely see, one is directly below the one standing and the third is just to the left preening.

Robin Mother cleanin the nest

I was sitting in my recliner taking pictures of the nest through a window.

Proud momma…

When I actually realized what was happening and who was responsible 🙂

Wren Opportunity Knocks…

A Carolina Wren pair decided our tucked away front door and artificial wreath were too perfect to pass up.

Cliff Swallow

These birds have been building a nest on this house since we bought it in 1999. As long as they come a little later then the House sparrows nesting time.

Hooded Oriole

This nest was reported to me by a neighbor that hoped I could get photos. It is the first record of Hooded Oriole nesting in Nevada County, CA. Their woven nests are so unique, being created by the threads from the palm itself and then attached to the underside of the weatherproof palm frond.

Nuttall’s Woodpecker feeding baby

While caring for my brother after his hip surgery, I got to explore his neighborhood while he napped. Found this Nuttall’s Woodpecker nest with adults feeding babies. The chicks would not stick their head out until the adult would call from a nearby tree, then quickly descend with large grubs. Observed these interesting birds several days in a row.

Western Grebes on nest

I was assisting a local biologist by taking him out to Lake Davis, CA for a grebe survey in my boat….I never go without my camera, so got to see lots of Western, Eared and Pied-billed Grebe nests! This nest was among a group of 28 nests in one area of the lake.

Bunk Beds

Mourning Dove and her chicks

Mourning Doves nesting in my backyard

Recently hatched hummingbirds

This hummingbird nest is attached to a mandevilla vine just above the sliding glass door to our patio. It was discovered when the mother bird’s fierce humming as she attacked a larger bird that had perched near the nest drew my attention. It was very special to be able to watch the nestlings being fed, grow, test their wings and finally fly–all able to be easily observed through the window without disturbing the birds!

Surveying the nesting grounds

One of two osprey building their nest on a telephone pole with no wires on it anymore.

Robin’s nest

Robin and chicks in her nest in the top of a pergola in my yard.
Appropriately, this was taken on Mother’s day.

Northern Mockingbird nest in Cholla Cactus

I watched the mockingbirds make this nest carefully from the very first twig. They had four speckled blue eggs and four babies. The cactus is 15 feet from the house and 5 feet from the carport. We made sure to make noise as we left the house to go to the car. Parents flew up to trees where they could keep a close on on the fledglings. Photo taken with a Nikon Coolpix L830 with zoom from the landing of our porch (over 20 feet away from the nest and about 4 feet above it).
On the morning after a heavy thunderstorm with 3 inches of rain falling – the nest was empty. We have seen the fledglings feeding nearby with their parents.

Nest Weaver

In February 2012 I was casually walking near camp in the morning before a day on safari when I spotted this Sparrow-Weaver building its nest. I looked closely, saw that the bird had a piece of material in its beak and was weaving it into the nest.

Red-Shouldered Hawk on Nest

This nest used to be an old round, leafy squirrel nest until the hawks took it over a few years ago. They have successfully raised a few clutches of chicks in that time. This year they only raised one chick. But, it was a cold rainy spring. Most buteo raptor nests I watched had fewer young this year. The Coops, which nest later in the spring, seemed to have more chicks per nest.

Hummer Guardian

Hummingbird (haven’t identified the species yet) took up residence under the protection of the Patio roof and a hovering protector. Two eggs in the nest today.

male oriole feeding young catapillars.

Osprey landing

Warbling Vireo on nest

Baby robin fledglings

This nest is located in an empty basket hanging just inside a doorway to a greenhouse. I propped the door open so the parents could come and go.

Defending the nest

In one of the largest nests in No. America, this Osprey protects its chicks from predators.

Ovenbird abode

Built on a forest trail! I might have stepped on this nest while I was hiking, if the adult hadn’t flushed out of it. I snapped this picture and moved along. Completely hidden from view when looking at it from above!

Red-Shouldered Hawk Twins

Red-Shouldered Hawk Twins standing shoulder to shoulder guarding the nest in a live oak tree

“All Gussied Up!”

Summer Saturdays are Forest Tot days at Quinta Mazatlan World Birding Center in McAllen, TX and this particular morning, the lesson theme was “Forest Animal Babies”. As the tots hiked on the trail with their guide and parents, we looked up and saw the White-winged Dove sitting on its nest! The children and their parents were very excited to see nature at its best!

A Full Nest

Two Anna’s Hummingbird nestlings on July 2. They fledged on July 8, 2015

Hello world

Tree Swallows built a nest in our newspaper box under the mail box. How beautiful is the placement of the Mallard feathers? Almost like they hired an interior decorator! Four babies successfully fledged, but for a few weeks, getting our mail was oh so difficult as mom and dad kept a watchful eye on their nest.This shot was taken a day after they hatched.

Building a new home

Yellow Warbler preparing a new home along the boardwalk at Magee Marsh, Ohio, she was so meticulous in placement of her nesting materials.

Cute Home Tweet Home Nest Box

tho not relevant to the nesting program, you may use this as part of your cover photo as the name is relevant to your contest

Safe at Home

Keep quite down there

Hummer in the Oak Leaf Hydrangea

This beauty tended her nest faithfully. Two weeks after I found her, and she posed, an unknown marauder toppled her nest. There was nothing left.

Gray Flycatcher Research

Myself checking a Gray Flycatcher nest located on a branch next to the main trunk of a ponderosa pine tree. Nest photo taken with a cell phone on selfie mode attached to a telescoping pole. Nest monitored as part of a research project.

Nest on a bulb

Sitting observing two Eastern Phoebe’s flying back and forth into a empty tool shed. My suspicions were correct. Great shelter – away from predator’s and laughed when I looked up to see the location on this light bulb.

Daddy Duty

A male Baltimore Oriole takes his turn on the nest.

Cottonwood Camouflage

Heron Home

A Great Blue Heron nest. This was one of sixteen in the tree, in a rookery with four trees.

Gray Catbird chicks

Miscellaneous Production, Indeed!

Here at Emory Knoll Farms, we grow plants for green roofs. We keep a shelf of tags for labeling plants in our barn. Arriving at work one morning, last week, we found that a Carolina Wren had built her nest in the box marked “Miscellaneous Production” We have all had a good laugh – and wonder if she can read?

Egg Featherbed

While kayaking on the upper Hackensack River, we accidentally spooked a nesting goose nearby. A quick survey revealed a beautifully feathered nest well hidden on a small, elevated piece of grassy marsh.

Canadian Goose Feathered Nest

While kayaking on the upper Hackensack River, we accidentally spooked a nesting goose nearby. A quick survey revealed a beautifully feathered nest well hidden on a small, elevated piece of grassy marsh.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Cornell Lab of Ornithology