The last posting I made had a teaser of a yellow warbler nest. I was lucky enough to find a yellow warbler nest in an easily accessible location earlier in the summer.
Through the wonders of modern technology, I was able to setup a camera right by the nest. The wonderful technology tools available allowed me to see what the camera was seeing and control the camera from a safe distance. Being away from the nest allowed the parents to be a bit more comfortable with the camera being so close, yet not having a human at the nest.
I want to emphasize that I was trying to be as respectful of the nest and the young family as I could and still get some wonderful videos of the magical scene.
My general technique was to arrive at the nest shortly after 7am, setup the gear and basically hide myself in some nearby grasses about 30 feet away. After an hour or so with the nest, I would leave the nest area to allow the parents not to be too stressed out.
Over a 2 week period, I was able to visit the nest almost daily, and capture some beautiful videos of this beautiful bird family. I also learned a good amount by observing the natural growth on the young warblers.
The final video "Yellow Warbler: Preening" was the last day of the nest being used. The young warblers fledged later that day.
I had hoped to see them hoping around the bushes along with the parents feeding them after the young birds had fledged the nest. When I returned to the nesting area the next day, the parents were continuously making warning calls to the young warblers. After waiting for about 5-10 minutes, I knew my time with the warbler family was complete and left.
The time with the young family was truly magical and I feel very lucky to have enjoyed the development of these beautiful birds.
Here is the complete series of yellow warbler videos.
Hope you enjoy the new batch of videos.
