Picture Of The Week 06-15-09

Where: Highland County, VA

Notes: This nest site was discovered by watching where this male hybrid songster went with the caterpillar it was carrying by Caroline Coe of Richmond, VA. She found this nest near the pathway she was walking, only inches off the ground. It was in the center of a clump of tall grass under some Blackberry brambles. With only a small window of opportunity to photograph this nest, I grabbed my gear and went to work quickly. I pre-adjusted my camera with my best guess at what the camera's settings should be. Experience showed me that a relatively wide field of focus should be my primary concern and would give me the best results. I mounted the camera on a short tripod and plugged in the remote cable. Then, I moved into the site, put the tripod down and set the focus. I quickly retreated back as far away as I could get in order to be of the least disturbance to the nest as possible. From about twenty-five feet away, I laid low and still in the tall grass and brambles. From that distance I could barely see the bird's entry path into the nest. The male parent quickly went back to his chore of feeding the two young chicks while the female, a Golden-winged Warbler, sat watching from a nearby tree. Having gotten sharp focus, good exposure and interesting position on this bird was a real treat!