photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
ctfchallenge | all galleries >> Challenge 132 - Natural Framing >> Challenge 132 - Exhibition > House Wren Eggs *
previous | next
28-APR-2007 Michael Shealy

House Wren Eggs *

Black Forest, CO

This is what's in the "well feathered nest" of a House Wren. Note the snakeskin, hair, small feathers, striped blue and neutral plastic strip, straw and sticks. We found these abandoned eggs (7) in a nest box that we were cleaning for this new year's hatch (hoping there is one). We love to have House Wrens around cuz they eat insects, preferrably spiders and sing a beautiful song. Unfortunately, our house cat caught this mother Wren before she could hatch these eggs. We put a bell on his collar and a coyote got him. Oh, well, ... life and death in the forest.

Canon EOS 20D ,Sigma 150mm f2.8 EX DG Macro
1/80s f/6.3 at 150.0mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
comment | share
ctfchallenge01-May-2007 19:38
Thanks, Tom. Birds are smart; some smarter than others, but ... I wish this little Wren was smart enough to avoid my cat. Oh, well. The cat is history, so we'll hope for more House Wrens to come along. Thanks for the check+, -mikey
Guest 01-May-2007 05:02
I like the soft shine & colors of both the eggs & the nest. Birds are smart & their nests are fascinating. As a kid, this was stock "show & tell" material. Thanks for sharing mikey, you get a check+.
TomD.
ctfchallenge30-Apr-2007 23:45
Thanks for the, ah, ... comment, COAmature. Over easy? Hummm, well these eggs are about 3/8" (1cm) in diameter, you'd need 50 for a meal. Besides, they've been sitting in the nest for a year; probably wouldn't be that good, eh? Cheers, -mikey
ctfchallenge29-Apr-2007 03:42
I guess you should complete the circle of life. Maybe over easy? -COAmature
ctfchallenge29-Apr-2007 02:44
Thanks for the comments, Rich & Brent. I've amplified the caption to explain a bit more.
Rich - even more amazing (I was, for sure) this on laid 7 eggs!
Brent - That's not bubble wrap, its snake skin. Just below, attached and to the right of wot looks like bubble wrap is the belly skin. There are several pieces of snake skin in this nest. I've several pix of it and am wondering which to post. The straight-on pic of the nest shows a more graphic view of the eggs and also the different pieces of skin, etc. The blue and neutral strips are pieces of our hay tarps that have shredded from usage. Thanks again for the kind words. Cheers, -mikey
Brent 29-Apr-2007 02:19
This is really great Michael. The framing works very well. It looks like the bird is using a little bit of bubble wrap to protect the eggs- too funny! Any problems with the mother dive bombing you near the nest? Well done.
ctfchallenge29-Apr-2007 01:42
Nice find, I'm amazed a little wren lays 6 eggs. Rich