Protecting His Nest

This is a very photo intensive post but the photos tell the story. Yesterday I had a opportunity to watch the male Eastern Bluebird (Daddy as we call him) protect his nest from an unsuspecting Mourning Dove that landed too close. All shots were taken with my E-M5 and Olympus 40-150 lens. You can click on the images to view larger versions of them.

Daddy on the left and Momma on the right. The dish next to Momma is where we put mealworms for them.

Unsuspecting Mourning Dove

The Dove finally decides to fly away.

The victor!

Picture of the Week (POTW) #9

Picture of the week for the period 8 - 14 August 2010. It's not everyday that you see three birds all feeding from the same feeder at the same time -- at least around here this isn't something that I see happening very often. Not too long ago I moved the sunflower seed feeder so that it extends above the fence. This has proven to be a smart move. Now that the birds have discovered it it's not uncommon to see doves lined up along the fence waiting their turn to get some of the seeds and this pair of House Finches are regular visitors to our back yard. It's pretty cool to watch the birds feeding from it. I took the picture below using Donna's Rebel T2i and EF-400 lens. The camera/lens were mounted on the Induro CT314 tripod and I was using the ballhead and GHBA Gimbal Head. Exposure was 1/30th (which I find somewhat surprising given the bright side lighting) at f/5.6, ISO 100. At the top left is a male House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus), on the bottom is a female House Finch and standing on the fence post is a Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura).

Three on a Tree
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The Wink

One of the few times I've seen a Mourning Dove sitting on something other than the ground. This one seemed to be quite curious and spent several minutes moving along the fence checking things out. I shot this with my Canon 7D and EF 400 lens. Exposure was 1/80th at 5.6, ISO 400. Camera/lens where mounted on Induro CT314 tripod and GHBA Head.