4

The Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) is “the bird that carries the sky on its back.” We have about thirty

Bluebird boxes up around the property, and the birds use them every year, but I’ve yet to have a pair

nest right in my backyard. I came close last year – a pair started building a nest in my bird box, but

then the stinking squirrels got in and took it over. It was a badly designed box that I had bought to

support a local charity. I’ve built my own box, so I’m hopeful of having better results.

Bluebirds don’t come to seed feeders, so it’s more of a challenge to get good shots of them, although

taking photos of their nests and nestlings is very easy to do.

Above is a male, and to the right is a

female. They perched on the same branch

of an Eastern White Pine just minutes

apart, and I was able to get their photos

using my remote shutter device on the

camera that I had aimed at that spot.

Incidentally, there is necessarily a lot of

trial-and-error in aiming the camera at just

the right spot for these remotely taken

shots. You don’t know how much wind there

will be that will move the target, and you

don’t know the size of the bird that will land

on the branch, which means that you can’t

be sure how much the branch will bend

under its weight...and an inch or so

difference can make or break the focus of

the photo. Many photos are taken and

rejected, and camera adjustments made,

before you get a keeper; AND, during the

process, you never know if a bird will come

back to that spot once the camera is ready.