Hummmmmmmmmmingbird

We have some beebaum blooming just outside of my home office window and the hummingbirds dart thought it grabbing sips of the nectar. I grabbed my camera and spent a few minutes watching and photographing this speedy little creature through the window.

Non Photography Day

Monday July 17th is nonphotography day a day for us photogs to put our cameras down and to stop and smell the roses, hug our kids and not see the world through a lens. From the website:

It is a day to think about how life exists, in essence and not appearance and to understand the inadequacy of the photograph in describing this essence, to bring awareness of the perils of living through the view finder or the display screen…

Rescued Robin Redux

After tucking Ben in for the night I looked out his window to the back yard and in the fading light I see mama robin feeding and teaching her 2 kids how to catch those yummy worms. Looks like the young one I "rescued" did find save haven until it could fly.


On another note there is another nest in the front yard with a mama snuggled inside keeping some eggs warm.

Robin rescue?

My next door neighbor was at the door yesterday afternoon to let me know that one of the baby robins fell out of the nest, was running around my backyard and was not able to fly. So I went out back and found this little one in the grass. So I took this image and then put the camera down and tried to gently pick it up and return it to the nest. After a running around the back yard like I was trying to catch a greased pig, I was able to gently scoop the baby up and reunite it with its sibling in the nest. I am a robin hero!....

Or not! The robin promptly hopped right back out of the nest and was attempting to fly but just could'nt get off the ground.

After a couple of minutes, it made its way through some bushes and I hav'nt see it since. Hopefully 'lil robin found a safe haven until it can fly.

White House Photo Op

Chicago Tribune Photog Pete Souza posted this real-time White House photo Op in the Oval Office with "dubya" and Aussie PM John Howard. Check out all 27 seconds of it here

Worlds largest pinhole camera

Check out the legacyphotoproject.com and click on the link for the worlds largest camera. Sometime this month a team of photographers are turning a former hanger on a decommisioned base into a giant pinhole camera. Be sure also to look at the galleries of images from the Legacy Project. Since 2002, they have been working on a long-term photographic study of a closed air base that is slated to be turned into a giant urban park in Southern California. PDN online has a story about it here.

mmmm..... worms!

Now that the doves have moved on I thought I would post a photo of mama robin coming in for a landing with a yummy worm for the 2 babies in her nest. Mama landed on the fence and when she saw that the coast was clear, she popped into the nest and the youngsters chowed down.

They grow up so fast...

It rained pretty heavily during the whole weekend and I was a little concerned that the nests might be affected in some way, well it appears that one of the squabs is gone. Did it fall out? Was it a cat's lunch? or was it ready leave home early? I'm not sure. All I know is that when I went to check, only one squab was perched near the nest.

Later on in the day I noticed the squab in the garden following a grownup learning how to find food. After that they roosted for a while on top of the neighbor's shed.

The nest is now empty and the squab born only last week has taken wing.

Dove update

I had a peek at the Dove's nest today and found that there are 2 squabs. They grow rather quickly don't they! Mama or Daddy showed up and fed them some pigeon milk

Cool fact: Mourning Doves feed their nestlings crop milk or "pigeon milk," which is secreted by the crop lining. This is an extremely nutritious food with more protein and fat than is found in either cow or human milk. Crop milk, which is regurgitated by both adults, is the exclusive food of hatchlings for three days, after which it is gradually replaced by a diet of seeds

A couple of minutes later, the parent flew off to find more food.

Nest Surprise

I was out in the backyard this evening and noticed mama robin was out of her nest, being curious, I reached out and stuck my camera over the nest to see how many eggs might be there. When I looked at my screen I was surprised to find they already hatched! Although of the three, one doesn't look like it made it. I moved out of the area and mama returned a minute later.

Squab has arrived.

Yesterday morning I checked on the nests and nothing new to report. After lunch however I checked the Dove's nest and papa was sitting tall and proud with a grey ball of feathers lying in front of him. How do I know it is dad? from my exhaustive Googling I found that the male takes the day shift and mama does the night shift. Want to know more? go here.

Nest updates

Not much new to report. In the backyard, the Dove and the Robin are sitting comfortably in their respective nests keeping those eggs warm, Should be some hatching going on soon! Also it appears there is another nest in the front yard, belonging to a robin as well. It's pretty well hidden so I can't report much on that one. My contributions to the nest building it appears, were completely ignored. I will try a different approach for next year, perhaps something a tad less colourful?