House Wrens Perched and in Flight at Barr Lake State Park (CO)

/

Thirteen photos illustrate the current status of a mini-project trying to capture House Wrens in flight during their nesting activity. Numerous sightings of the wrens in the trees along the 8.8 mile lightly trafficked trail that circles Barr Lake was the stimulus for the project. Barr Lake State Park (CO) is a wildlife preserve with an eBird Field Checklist showing 336 species. 

Click on the image for a larger view.    

D500, 500mm f/4 + 1.4x teleconverter, handheld
    1/1250 sec at f/9, ISO 640

 Click on the image for a larger view   

D500, 500mm f/4 + 1.4x teleconverter, handheld
    1/1250 sec at f/9, ISO 640

The remainder of the heavily cropped images are of activity in or near a nest cavity in a dead tree stump near the trail. The cavity is rarely in good light and it is difficult to get noise-free images of activity inside the cavity.

Click on the image for a larger view

The wrens sometimes perch on the tip of the stump before carrying nesting material or insects into the cavity. 

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II + 300mm f/4 IS Pro lens, handheld
1/3200 sec at f/7.1, auto ISO 2500

On other occasions, they fly directly to the cavity. 

Click on the image for a larger view

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II + 300mm f/4 IS Pro lens, handheld
1/3200 sec at f/7.1, auto ISO 1600

This bird has a band on the right leg. I was unable to read the entire number and, therefore, do not know the significance of the band.

Four images of a wren leaving the nest follow.

Click on the image for a larger view

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, 300mm f/4 IS Pro lens + 1.4x teleconverter, handheld
1/3200 sec at f/5.6, ISO 1250

I acquired the shots of the bird flying to the nest and the ones of the bird leaving the nest using the "Pro Capture" mode of the Olympus camera. In this mode images are buffered from the moment you half-press the shutter release. When you do finally fully press the release, the 14 buffered images that would have been taken before the shutter release are saved to the memory card, as well as all images taken with the shutter release continuously pressed. 

I need to do more experimentation with the "Pro Capture" mode. What is the optimal space to leave for various birds "to fly into"? How many focus points should be active in various situations? How does one develop more patience (waiting for the bird to arrive or leave)? and a longer attention span (to be sure to fully press the shutter release when a critical event occurs)? etc. Hopefully, future blog entries will demonstrate more expertise using this mode. 

/ /

David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit.