Great Egret and Chicks
Great Egret and its “cute” babies at the High Island Rookery.
Robin Family Supper Time
Mother and Father Robin bring worms to hungry babies in nest.
Baby Goslings
3 baby goslings chatting on the Maumee riverfront
Nap-time.
Supper-time.
Waiting for lunch.
Family dinner time.
Almost ready to leave the nest!
These are the first fledglings for this season. On a 95* day I found one of these youngsters had fallen out of the nest, newly hatched – mostly pink and no feathers. It was hanging upside down stuck on a Cholla thorn!! I went inside the house, got long sleeve shirt, long pants, latex gloves and came back for the rescue. Parents were squawking, but I kept reassuring that I was trying to help. I was able to grab one of its legs and place it back in the nest. I guess It was a successful rescue!
Curve-billed Thrasher eggs
Curve-billed Thrasher eggs. Nest is in a VERY thorny Cholla Cactus, which is a typical nesting spot. You can see 3 of the 4 eggs. I taped a small mirror on a two foot stick in order to get the picture without too many thorn jabs.
Heron Family
It amazes me that these birds mate for life and watching them raise their young is astounding.
Breakfast at the feeder
A Hairy Woodpecker shares black oil sunflower seeds with its young, July 2014.
Me next
Parents feeding their chicks rarely stopping. They just pop a bug into the chicks mouth and fly away. Letting the chicks wait. When the parents get close they chirp as loud as they can for attention. The chicks are still able to fly but probably not the best bug catchers yet.
Pygmy Nuthatch
Standish Hickey State Recreation Area Osprey Nest
I have watched and photographed an Osprey Nest at Standish Hickey State Recreation Area for the past two years. Last year the nest successfully fledged two Osprey. This year the Osprey spent a lot of time fixing up the nest but never incubated eggs, that I could tell, on my visits. California is in a horrible drought and our river is extremely low and fish are scarce. Out of the 5 Osprey Nests I observed this year along the Eel River, I did not see any successful hatchings. I did see Osprey with Lamprey as prey about a dozen times, which is something I never witnessed before.
Song Sparrows
First time that I had a song sparrow nest in my yard.
Benbow Bald Eagle Nest
Benbow Bald Eagle’s Nest – Two adult Bald Eagles in the nest just days after one Eaglet hatched. If you look real close you can just see the very top of it’s fuzzy gray head, in between the Eagles. I watched this nest from February until July, hiking up once a week. These photos were taken at great distance, across a river, using a camera and a spotting scope, as the nest is barely visable to the human eye. We are thrilled to have a successful mating pair of Bald Eagles in our small river community.
Feed Me
Benbow Bald Eagle Nest
Benbow CA Bald Eagle’s Nest – I watched this nest from a great distance across the river all through the season. I hiked up 26 times between February and July – through fixing up the nest, incubating, hatching and fledging of one baby Bald Eaglet. I spent about 100 hours watching. The nest was so far away I had a spotting scope set up next to my camera so I could see what I was photographing, and used a shutter release cable. We brought two groups of school children up to watch and experience the nest. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
Hiding in the Shade
Hungry Baby Blue Jay
Baby Rufous Hummingbird
Our Labrador was snuffling under a rock in our front yard when I noticed she had something in her mouth. When I asked her to drop it I saw that it was a tiny baby hummingbird. We fed the baby with a dropper until we were able to return her to her mother who was calling to her. We watched her grow up. Tiny Magnificence.
Open Wide
Cutest Downy Pecker
I love this little guy, he would just come and pose or me.
Red-bellied Woodpecker Baby and Mother
For several years I’ve watched the Red-bellied Woodpeckers nest and raise their young in my backyard, and every year these beautiful birds amaze me even more.
Nature’s Beauty Hummingbird Baby & Mother
I am extremely lucky to have experienced something first hand, something that most people only see in photographs. It is an indescribable feeling, one that I will never forget.
Barn Owls
We watched these Barn Owls on a weekly basis for about a month. I think if we go back they will have fledged. It was fun watching them grow.
Baltimore Oriole male feeding his young.
We were visiting Presque Isle and watched this male Oriole fly in and out of the nest feeding his young.
Guard!
While biking near a reservoir in Colorado I saw a pair of swallows taking turns entering this box with an abundance of bugs and exiting as soon as the other appeared. .
cardinal eggs
Barn Swallow nestlings
green heron eggs
Soaking up the Sun
An eagle pair has nested near our property in Central Illinois since 2010. Each year the nest does get larger! This year two eaglets hatched, and my best guess about the pose of the adult eagle in this photo is that it was either soaking up some morning sunshine or shielding the young eaglets from the bright sun.
Redstart eggs
Hidden Hummingbird nest
I was on a backpack in southern Utah and discovered this gem while I was collecting water. It was tucked under a rock ledge and very well hidden!
Baby Barns
Broad-tailed humingbird chicks in nest
I had the amazing opportunity to find this nest in our yard and watch it from eggs to fledging. What a treat!
Kildeer eggs
This pair of kildeer made their nest in my laneway, so I was able to watch them on a daily basis until the eggs were hatched. Unfortunately I could not get a photo of the babies as the parents moved them away very quickly!
Satin Bowerbird chick
bluebirds getting feed
I put worms out for the blue birds so the mom took them to the feeder and was feeding them
Just waiting for breakfast!
Hummingbird
This hummingbird was sitting on a branch cleaning itself.I was able to take a photo though the window as it’s tongue came out
Baby Robin
This baby robin landed under a nearby tree while I was weeding one of my flower beds. The parents were in a nearby tree scolding me, so I took a few pics then left so that they could lead him to a safer spot.
Meal Time
Eastern Kingbird Inflight Meal
While walking Margaret Peak Preserve, Eaton Twsp., Lorain County OH, spotted this fledged Eastern Kingbird still being fed by both parents.
11 mallard ducklings with mama
Home Sweet Home
Bluebirds deciding if this is the best nesting box
cute baby
hungry baby
Just left the nest
Family Dinner Time
finch nest in barn with female feeding juvenile and male standing watch
11 mallard ducklings with mama
House wren feeding Baby
House Wren Feeding Baby a Leaf Hopper for breakfast, This is the 3rd clutch of birds to successfully fledge from my Nest box i made out of wood and bark.—-This Box has already fledged 5 chickadee’s-6 house wrens and then this clutch of 5 house wrens who will fledge on sunday.
Bluebird babies looking out
Two baby Eastern Bluebirds almost ready to leave nest
11 mallard ducklings
Grebe feeding her chicks.
Dad fishes and brings the catch to mom who will feed the hungry chicks cruising on her back.
Mallard Nest by the Garage
Discovered this nest in the garden next to my neighbor’s garage. We were worried that her doberman might disturb the eggs, but she just sniffed them once, and seemed to want to protect them! When the ducklings fledged, they took them across the road successfully to the river.
Tree Swallow feeding its youngs.
Very hungry chicks make parents busy.
Female Robin Feeding Her Fledgling
A nest fell out of our Maple Tree and one nestling came with it. It stayed in the yard all afternoon. The Mama was quite attentive.
American Robin Nest on Porch
Both happy and and sad when I discovered this beautiful robin had built this nest on the ledge above our front door on the porch! We had to block the window from the inside because our living room light would disturb the birds at night, and that was not a problem. But we had to use the back door to get in and out of our house, which was inconvenient! The good news is that the venture was successful, and the fledglings left successfully:)
Feeding Time
This juvenile Purple Martin is one of two left to fledge. The parents are starting to coax them out more & more and occasionally don’t bring them something to eat. This time dad brought food for this wide-mouthed, happy juvie. By the next day I believe this same juvie had moved outside the gourd and was sitting on the “front porch.” It won’t be long at all until it flies free. I will miss them, their joyous calls & songs and wish them well as they begin their travels south. We are happy hosting them and being Purple Martin landlords. This photo was phone-scoped through my iPhone.
Northern Cardinal and babies at nest
Discovered this nest in the magnolia tree outside our bedroom window, where we could watch the feeding activities without disturbing the birds!
Common Green Magpie
Anhinga baby in the nest
Took this on a cold, windy January day in Florida at the Venice rookery. The wind blew momma’s feathers as she struggled to protect her baby from blowing away
Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker
Barn Swallow feeding time
Barn swallow parents perform fly-by feedings of their fledglings on the driftwood-piled beaches of Blake Island, WA. Quite a few fledglings were perched on various pieces of driftwood and would wait for their parents to deliver insects to them, squawking and flapping their wings as their parent would approach.
Tree Swallow fledglings feeding
Unusual place for a nest
A Carolina Wren built her nest in our carport on a shelf on an orange rag and bubble wrap
Your turn!!
Nest-hog
Hummingbirds come annually to make nests in the ash tree in our backyard. We love watching them grow up.
Tree Swallows 3 fledged, one left
The 4 fledglings were raised soley by the mom, she lost her mate.
Awaiting Breakfast
Hummingbirds come annually to make nests in the ash tree in our backyard. We love watching them grow up.
First Flight
Sleepy Pincushions
Hummingbirds come annually to make nests in the ash tree in our backyard. We love watching them grow up.
Waiting on momma robin to return
While walking around at Tagawa Gardens nursery I noticed this nest up on the frame of the shades along the sidewalk too hight to look into- I saw momma robin fly away and took an overhead shot to find these perfect little eggs
Acadian Flycatcher Nest (and nestlings)
Hungry Blue Jay Nestlings
Fledgling Titmouse
Bluebirds Fledging
I captured the fledging of the bluebirds in my front box. The first one had some trouble figuring it out.
Killdeer Eggs
A Grand Attempt
Anhinga & Chicks
Hummingbird & Nest
House Wren’s
Nest sweet nest
This American Robin nest was on the deck railing of my brother-in-law’s parents’ house, so it was easy to take a photo of. The eggs were so blue and perfect, it was like it wasn’t even real.
Feeding Time for Red-necked Grebe babies
Waiting Room
We were in Antigua, Guatemala for a short visit, and this little hummer was there the whole length of our stay.. She was not camera shy at all!
Place bug here….
Young Northern Mocking birds want to eat!
Welcome Home
This photo was taken with my iPhone because my larger camera would have caused too much disturbance in the tiny access point I had to work with. There are 2 Bayberry bushes on either side of our front door. This is the first time in several years they returned to nest in this particular bush. (I had trimmed the bushes way back a few years ago. Bad idea in hind sight) Our front yard seems to be a micro climate for Cardinal breeding. We have a Red Japaneses Maple hybrid tree in the front center of our home that we have nick-named “The Love Shack” because every season, the Cardinals return, flock to that tree and perform their mating dances there. Then they nest in the smaller bushes around our home to lay & hatch their eggs. I named this picture ‘Welcome Home’ as nod to their annual return, a nod for returning to that particular bush (and as a subtle apology for having wrecked their home before) as well as nod to it being right at our front door. Momma and her eggs, and eventually the hatch-lings, welcomed us home every time we returned. (which I interpreted as her acceptance of my apology 😉 I hope you enjoy her beautiful ‘home’ as much as we did. PS. I could decide the category, so I hope it was ok to enter it in both beautiful eggs and best nest….
Welcome Home
This photo was taken with my iPhone because my larger camera would have caused too much disturbance in the tiny access point I had to work with. There are 2 Bayberry bushes on either side of our front door. This is the first time in several years they returned to nest in this particular bush. (I had trimmed the bushes way back a few years ago. Bad idea in hind sight) Our front yard seems to be a micro climate for Cardinal breeding. We have a Red Japaneses Maple hybrid tree in the front center of our home that we have nick-named “The Love Shack” because every season, the Cardinals return, flock to that tree and perform their mating dances there. Then they nest in the smaller bushes around our home to lay & hatch their eggs. I named this picture ‘Welcome Home’ as nod to their annual return, a nod for returning to that particular bush (and as a subtle apology for having wrecked their home before) as well as nod to it being right at our front door. Momma and her eggs, and eventually the hatch-lings, welcomed us home every time we returned. (which I interpreted as her acceptance of my apology 😉 I hope you enjoy her beautiful ‘home’ as much as we did. PS. I could decide the category, so I hope it was ok to enter it in both beautiful eggs and best nest….
Dad Feeds Fledgling
Red-bellied feeding time.
Red-bellied woodpecker feeding baby.
Hanging out, raising babies in an old hanging basket
Doves moved in and had their babies in an old hanging basket before we took it down to put a new one up. Three different batches of babies were raised in that old basket.
Snack Time
Mom and Dad Bluebird
Unusual Feeding….
Who is feeding who here? This male cardinal seems to be feeding an immature blue grosbeak.
Baby Avocet
Baby Avocets are active finding food just a few hours after they hatch.
Sonoran Desert Hummingbird
A glimpse into the delicate, hidden life hummingbirds.
Baby Mourning Doves
These two recently fledged Mourning Doves have been sitting in our garden for several days. They are not yet independent and spend their day sleeping in a cozy area in the shade of a large shrub.
It’s a Big, Big, world!
Just fledged robin.