Eastern Phoebe - Moucherolle phébi
The ecosystems around Mud Lake and near the Ottawa River are supportive of the breeding behaviours of a number of species, and a visit now will likely lead to someone finding several fledglings. The Eastern Phoebe is a frequent nester, and cycles of fledglings pop up through the summer.
I was near the edge of the water looking for frogs, who were loud but hard to see. I sat on the ground and started scanning, and in my peripheral vision I saw this young bird land after catching a dragonfly.
Fledgling Phoebes are a bit of a mess, with feathers going everywhere, but they soon begin to look and act like adults. Aside from the seemingly juvenile behaviour, given its willingness to use a perch a metre off the ground and about two metres away from me, the bird hunted successfully like an adult for about ten minutes, always returning to the same perch. This allowed me to do some minor re-positioning to identify the optimal background under the circumstances (ie not wanting to move too much or to do anything to startle the bird).
I had my tripod set up for the frogs, and the bird suddenly turned its head the other direction, and before I could move the camera to follow and recompose I secured this image. Normally I would have framed the image with space in the direction the bird was looking, but this was a happy accident, as I liked the bokeh and it works better behind the bird.
After another dragonfly was captured, it took up a perch higher up in a leafy tree by the water. And I never found the frogs, but I wasn’t disappointed.
Eastern Phoebe - Moucherolle phébi
The ecosystems around Mud Lake and near the Ottawa River are supportive of the breeding behaviours of a number of species, and a visit now will likely lead to someone finding several fledglings. The Eastern Phoebe is a frequent nester, and cycles of fledglings pop up through the summer.
I was near the edge of the water looking for frogs, who were loud but hard to see. I sat on the ground and started scanning, and in my peripheral vision I saw this young bird land after catching a dragonfly.
Fledgling Phoebes are a bit of a mess, with feathers going everywhere, but they soon begin to look and act like adults. Aside from the seemingly juvenile behaviour, given its willingness to use a perch a metre off the ground and about two metres away from me, the bird hunted successfully like an adult for about ten minutes, always returning to the same perch. This allowed me to do some minor re-positioning to identify the optimal background under the circumstances (ie not wanting to move too much or to do anything to startle the bird).
I had my tripod set up for the frogs, and the bird suddenly turned its head the other direction, and before I could move the camera to follow and recompose I secured this image. Normally I would have framed the image with space in the direction the bird was looking, but this was a happy accident, as I liked the bokeh and it works better behind the bird.
After another dragonfly was captured, it took up a perch higher up in a leafy tree by the water. And I never found the frogs, but I wasn’t disappointed.