From the files of Donald R. Kirk:
After photographing a tree swallow feeding its young (see previous Blog), I offer my young son and daughter each 50 cents per nest for any other bird nests they can find. They agree. My wife overhears the deal and wants in on it. For the same fee, naturally. She tells me that she has already found a nest, and it is just a few yards deeper into the aspen grove. The boy grins and says that he, too, can show me a nest right now. My daughter, not to be outdone, verifies that yes, she also knows where there is a nest. Here we are two minutes into this bargain and I’m already $1.50 in debt. I consider rolling back the finder’s fee to 25 cents per nest, but that might cause mutiny. I do require that nests must be of different birds. No duplicates.
They all want to be first to show me their find, but for political reasons I choose my wife’s nest first. They ask to come along and watch me photograph. I tell them, no, too many people will upset the birds. Besides, I want everybody to look for more nests.
My wife points off through the grove of aspen, saying that she can see the nest tree from here. Grabbing my pack, and laying my tripod, camera and all, across my shoulder, we walk less than thirty yards to the chosen aspen tree. A cup–like nest, neatly built of fine, dry grass, other plant parts, and what appears to be thistle down, rests on the fork of a dead aspen branch about two feet out from the trunk and five feet above the ground. The nest is well decorated with gray lichens and moss. From even a short distance, it looks like a normal wood knot at a fork in the tree branch. No bird is on the nest. I go to it and peer in.
A single, nearly naked baby bird is sprawled face down on the bottom of the nest. I have no idea what kind of bird it is. This tiny creature is the sorriest looking thing I’ve seen in a long time. No movement. I think there should be more than one nestling. Most birds that build nests like this lay more than one egg.
Is this baby bird alive? I gently touch the nest, and up comes the nestling’s head with its beak gaping widely, ready to receive food. Now I can see that the eyes are not open. This scrawny little bird is very young, not more than two days out of the egg. Small noises come from its mouth. Soon the beak closes. The head remains aloft for a moment and then lowers face down in the nest. My wife points out that an adult bird has landed on a nearby branch with its mouth crammed full with insects, likely to feed this baby.
Another bird with a load of bugs lands nearby. We now have both parents ready to stuff that tiny nestling with food. A good look at these two adults shows they are the western wood pewee. These birds usually lay three eggs. Something must have happened to two of them. Western wood pewees look alike so its not possible to tell female from male. The female builds the nest and incubates the eggs. The male defends the nest territory and helps feed the young.
To take photos, I draw back about 15 feet among the aspen, far enough that the parents resume feeding their single chick. To provide for themselves and their young, these birds snatch flying insects out of the air and from vegetation. They are so active that in less than a half hour I have all the photos I want…to be continued.