I had no idea what kind of footage I would get and so I walked away and sat down 100 feet away hoping that my precarious setup would not get blown over by the breeze that had started to pick up.Īll went well, and I was happy to get our dining chair back in the house before my wife noticed it was missing. Phew! I was happy to get the camera rolling. I zoomed in and focused on the nest before changing the camera setting to video mode and starting the video. I finally stepped on the wooden stool to be able to see through the camera’s view finder. That day I got some new appreciation for what it takes for a crew to rig up the cameras when shooting for BBC Earth or Nat Geo! We placed the chair some distance away so as to not disturb the nest and its residents, and then placed the small chair on top of the dining chair and then the tripod on top of the small chair. We had the camera, the tripod, two chairs and a step stool. I convinced my daughter to help me carry an assortment of things across the street in the vicinity of the nest. My tripod is not very tall, so I had to figure out a way of setting the camera up in a way that I could get a good view of the nest.
Hummingbird nest movie#
It was simply fascinating to watch.Īfter watching all this activity for some time, it dawned upon me that it would be great if I could capture these precious moments on a video using the movie feature of my DSLR camera and my scope tripod. The hummingbird adult female raises the chicks alone so it was only the mom that fed the chicks. It was so nice watching the mother feeding them nectar that she had labored to collect over the last 10 – 12 minutes. The nestlings, like all other bird species, would get all excited! They did not have loud squeaks like those that wren chicks have. The most fun, however, was watching the activity when the mother returned to feed them. I enjoyed watching the chicks while they waited for the mother to return. But I was not planning on giving up on witnessing the amazing phenomenon of hummingbirds nesting. I am sure people driving by were wondering what this fellow was doing sitting on a camping chair on the sidewalk with binoculars, peeping into what could have been mistaken as a neighbor’s house. I set up my scope in our front yard from where I could see the activity at the nest, but since it was about 200 feet away and the view was not the best, I decided to take my camping chair and set up on the sidewalk about 50 feet away so as not to disturb the nest and enjoy this most wonderful experience through my binoculars. Surprisingly, the nest was at the end of a branch right at the sidewalk at about eye level. To stumble upon this hummingbird nest was such an incredible treat! I think they have one of the most beautiful nests. We have two hummingbird feeders in our backyard and have been enjoying the company of the hummingbirds every year for the last several years. I looked on the internet to confirm what I suspected to be a hummingbird nest.
Hummingbird nest full#
I had never seen a nest like this before and my heart was full of joy like a boy scout on his first adventure. It seemed so much a part of the branch and was decorated with bits of lichen all over it. The nest was the smallest and the most beautiful I had ever seen.
The sticks were the beaks pointed upwards. Awestruck to say the least, I had stumbled upon a nest with two nestlings. My eyes widened as I saw two sticks coming out of two fuzzy balls. I stopped, went back a few feet, and examined the moss ball more closely. One of the moss balls caught my eye because it seemed more conical than round. We crossed some low hanging oak branches with several moss balls. Two weeks ago we were walking our regular route, which takes us up and down neighborhood streets and past many wonderful live oaks. We Austinites are so fortunate to live in a city in the midst of so much greenery which gives the sense of living in a forest. This story is about an adventure that started off during our everyday evening walks in the neighborhood, which have been a regular feature that we look forward to after being home most of the day. However, the change also brought our twin girls back home from college – much to their chagrin and our pleasure! We also have more time now to try our hand at some new things like organic gardening in our backyard using permaculture practices. My life is all about travel, and the COVID-19 pandemic brought a sudden halt to all my travel plans – Costa Rica, Botswana for work (birding trips) and personal travel trips to Ecuador and Peru.
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