Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek
We are expecting in this household!
No, not me, silly, I am a bit long in the tooth for that and even if I were to have hormone treatment, some of my *bits* are not there now. Nor is my daughter in law, Kaiko expecting (as far as I know) and the girls are far too young!
No, the mother to be happens to be a wren! I first noticed a pair of wrens going backwards and forwards towards the kitchen roof. Then I noticed that they were collecting things from the ground. Leaves and twigs, sometimes as big as themselves.
Years ago, I bought these little pouches and nailed them under the overhang of the kitchen roof. No bird has ever taken the slightest bit of notice of either of them before until now, that is. It seems that this dwelling is a wren's version of a superior detatched home and isn't it Sod's law that we were about to take the kitchen roof off and now our plans will have to be put on hold? Wild birds nesting are protected in this country and we cannot move them. Nor would I want to. I am now going to have to Google for information on how long it takes for all this nesting, laying, sitting and fledging to take.
As most of you know, my blog mentor for photography is David Mcmahon from Authorblog and I know that if he visits this post he will not be impressed with these photos that seem to be blurred and not in good focus. The wren looks like a tiny dot under the nest but that is as far as I could zoom in. My camera is lacking in ability to catch moving birds and does not have the capacity to enlarge the tiny creature any further.
However when I saw this tiny pair of wrens, I rushed to get my camera and I had to take the photo through my not so clean window, in order not to disturb them by opening the back door which is right by the pouches.
My camera is a Pentax Optio and has served me very well for ordinary photos and long distance views and snapshots of people. However, the time has come for me to specialize a little more and I am wondering whether to get a Canon Powershot SD990 IS (USA) otherwise known as Digital IXS 980IS in Aus and UK. My son Sam has bought one of these and has taken some good shots of close up creatures that has really impressed me.
Or shall I update my Pentax with the new Optio S12 which has a more powerful and faster lens than my old one and it is cheaper than the Canon?
I would love to know what you all think and which way I should go. Do any of you amateur photographers have either of these cameras?
I wrote this post a few days ago and thought that I would leave it for Photostory Friday and do you know what has happened? The wrens have abandoned ship! Maybe they thought we were too close to their nests or maybe its the four cats next door, who might have had them for their tea. Anyway, whatever it is, we are not expecting anymore and I feel really sad!
27 comments:
Well I for one am impressed with your photography, being the cowgirl I am at it. Can't advise on camera's either, but just wanted to say sorry the expectation has gone away. Maybe by the back door wasn't a good place to hang the little pouches.
Must have been exciting for a while though.
Love Granny
Bummer that they moved on,it would have been fun to watch them.
I just bought a Canon Rebel and I am loving it, but I need a better zoom lens for it. It came wit a 20-90.
I love to visit David's blog!
I'm like Sgt. Schultz on Hogan's Heros when it comes to cameras and such -"I know Nawthing!" Matter of fact, a friend of mine sent me a note tonight telling me to check into my camera and see if I can tweak some of the settings and it might improve my photo quality and I haven't a clue what he's talking about there!
That's a shame that the birds abandoned ship -well, hopefully that's all that happened to them. I'd hate to think they were the meal to the cat's tea party.
Sorry your birdies have hopped it!
Commiserations MM, wrens are my favourite little bird and we're lucky to have some close but don't know where they nest.
I'm having a ball with my small,powerful and versatile new toy but it depends what you want to carry. I've chosen one which will just slip in a pocket but zoom and macro as well as absorb a landscape.
Silly birds...they didn't know what a good thing they had when they had it!!
And I love your shots!! :)
Oh, we have baby wrens right now, two of them. If we're fast and lucky, we can see them poking their heads out of the bird house on our porch (which is suppose to be just decorative, btw). Wonderful pictures.
How sweet Maggie! Doesn't it just make your heart beat a little faster when you see something like this?
I love watching them feed the young and getting yelled at for watching!
Too bad about having to put the roof work on hold though. Hope it's only a matter of weeks for you.
I have a Canon IXUS and love it. It's not as 'good' as the one you linked to, but for what it's worth - it takes great shots (or a lot better than my last camera, anyway). x
Oh, how cute. Lots of photo ops for the future.
great photos of those nests
I'm sorry to hear that the birds left your little pouches. It would have been a happy event, but they probably left because of the cats.
I can't give you any advice on the camera, sorry. I just have a simple digital one with a built in zoom lens myself.
I always enjoy your photographs and hope to see more. XOX
I hope your birdies come back!
I was really excited about the impending birth then your last line tells me it is not to be! :(
Shame.
I get very excited when I see birds gathering twigs to nest build. I saw a huge crow yesterday with an enormous twig in his beak and I know they are not sweet souls the whole nurturing thing just touches me.... and how animals still follow the rules of mother nature- why can't us humans do a bit more of that?!
Have a great time with the family xxx
Awwww - too bad about the wrens. It's soooooo disappointing when you see the beginnings of a nest and then......they're gone!
I also like your photos. Can't help you with the camera. Mine's an old one and won't be updated as yet. Maybe one day....
Now you can get back to your roofing, and hopefully later on in the season, you'll have some wrens back.
I can just imagine your excitement at the thought of a wren nursery nearby - sorry it didn't work out! We have had some interest in our bird house and a bit of coming and going of blue tits, keeping our fingers crossed. A x
Maybe there's hope for my robin box, then?
As for cameras, although I have a Cannon EOS digital SLR for posh stuff, I've always liked Nikon for compacts (I have a Coolpix). Affordable, easy to use and superb quality pictures. My mum got one and loves it! Hope that helps, sorry to throw another make into the mix!
Well, some tenants just don't recognise a classy property, do they!
(And thank you for the kind words. You know I'm happy to mentor any photographer .....)
Well I am impressed by anyone who can capture birds on camera! They look great.
As for cameras - I have the Pentax Optio S10 (on David's advice) and the Pentax Optio L50 as back up. I find both of them very versatile and the S10 very good even with macro.
I too am impressed with your pictures. Wrens are preety sprightly birds...one oes visit my garden but the moment he realises he has been seen he flies away faster than my eye can follow him. As for cameras, well, mine is a point and click with a dial that does mysterious things and just about does what I need. So can't help you there.
Came across your blog on authorblog :)
I've become a bird fan myself recently, now that I'm living out in the country and they visit me more often. I got a new camera a couple months ago, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5, and I love it! Check out my post from Sunday, I added some pictures, including a bird picture.
Oops...typing errors...let me see if I can get this right, this time :-)! I love this post! I bought a bird bottle several years ago, and mounted it on our house...still no luck...the birds have not made a home. Sigh. I'm so sorry your wrens took flight...This is a wonderful post, and a lovely blog! I'm so glad David directed us to you! You are a terrific blogger! Congrats!
Hi Maggie,
I loved your photos! and I was so happy to hear all your news of the new arrivals.... until your last paragraph :( How sad!
Most probably it was the cats who frightened them off... I don't think it was you as they wouldn't have begun nesting there in the first place as they choose their little homes very carefully!
I have a Sony Cybershot N2 and it is a wonderful little camera! I recommend it to everyone!
We also have wrens here in Brasil and I often see them running through the bamboo in my garden.
We also have beautiful Hummingbirds with many beautiful bright colours! I bought a hummingbird drinking bottle a couple of years ago and I fill it with sugar-water every day snd they are always flying backwards and forwards and drinking from it in my garden - I will have to take some photos and post on my blog soon...
Big Hugs!
Donnie X
Nice to see you have some feathered tennants these days and not those horrible rodents with long tails. Have you won the war yet with them?
Nicely captured, Maggie - the birds on film I mean. Congratulations on POTD.
How wonderful! I would be just delighted if I put something out like that and a bird family actually used it. And you ALWAYS take great pictures!
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