Thats awesome Dave! I always miss mine so im so glad i get to see yours leave. I love the picture of dad and his ruffled feathers, thats cool. I also love mom hanging on sideways with the mealworms. I also loved dad wing waving. OK i guess i just loved them all! TFS
Bonnie

WOW!!!
size>color>Dave, you have really done it. You have captured the best pictures I have ever seen.
BlueBars

Dave I hope you're happy. I am now COVERED in goose bumps!!!!
Congratulations on the successful fledging. I never get to see mine go so thank you very much for the really AWESOME photos.
Cathy

Ditto what BlueBars said! That is the most WONDERFUL sight we could ever see! I missed my first brood go this year. (Keeping fingers crossed they time their second brood's fledging for a weekend!) :D

SPECTACULAR!!!!! That fledgling in flight, entering a brand new world is just awesome! What a rare opportunity to be able to capture that on camera!

Congrats, and thanks for sharing..

Donna

Excellent!

Glad you were able to capture the fledging Dave.
Those last two shots are priceless.

I'll need full sun and a little luck to get 1/4th the shutter speed you probably had. But our second brood of fledges should go early next week...

wish me luck,

Kenn :)

Dave are you saying one left yesterday and the rest the next day?I think at least some of mine fledged today because Mom keeps going from the feeder to the trees,but Dad gets a worm and acts like he is teasing at the hole of the box.He goes in but comes out with the worm and sits on top.I was getting concerned because it is sort of rainy and getting dark.I guess I always assumed they all left at pretty much the same time.Maybe this one says its too cold and wet,I'll wait till tomorrow.I hope thats it and not a problem in the box.Oh,did I say we all love your pictures?Hope you get another nesting.Jane

Jane
Yes, two eggs hatched on a friday and the remaining three hatched the following day -- one of them very late in the day. So I somewhat expected they would not all go at the same time. I did not see the first one go, we were eating supper at the time. But when they came for their evening feeding on Monday, it seemed they made most of their trips directly to the nestbox, but occasionally Papa would break away with a few mealies and head to the tall trees behind the house. Under normal circumstances, he would never do that. As it grew dark another baby was peeking continously and they seemed to be trying to coax him out, despite the late hour. I did not know if that one went or not but I assumed if he didn't, he would likely go at first light Tuesday. So I got up before daylight, set a camera with the wireless remote on a tripod near the box, another on a tripod on the deck next to my chair and a third at my feet. I also had two more big lenses nearby, a couple of empty CF cards, several charged batteries and a ton of mealworms. My DW brought me breakfast and lunch on the deck. In true Janie May fashion, it was Fledge Day at our house and I was not to be disturbed.

To my surprise, there was no peeking on Tuesday morning, so I wondered if number two had somehow fledged despite the darkness. In fact, no peeking until about noon, although the parents were constantly there, every few minutes, sometimes feeding and sometimes just checking. They must have removed half a dozen fecal sacs so I knew there were several still in there.
Nine hours into my vigil, at about 3:00 p.m., the peeking became more intense. One of them was repeatedly trying to scoot up into the opening. Finally one did, and he sat there a minute or so, then jumped. I was surprised since neither parent was within view. And I was surprised also that he flew so far: at least 150 feet to the tallest tree and then as he approached it, he didn't land on a lower branch but flew about 50 feet up to near the top. By this time Mama was right behind him.

When I looked back to the nestbox, another baby was already in position and I was stunned when he jumped a few seconds later. This is the tenth Fledge Day for me (about 40 fledglings) and I have never seen it happen so quickly before. This fledgling also flew quite a distance and landed high in another tree. The third followed suit and the fourth seemed ready to go but the parents seemed to discourage him (or her). They flew down to the box with mealworms and the baby withdrew into the box. They fed him, then both disappeared, probably to shepherd the three that had just fledged to the location where the first one was waiting. As I mentioned, we then had a severe rainstorm. After that they were down at the box but I had to run an errand so I did not know if number five fledged last night or not. This morning I checked and the box was empty.

Jane, to answer another of your comments,
My parents rarely went inside after about day 15. They fed from the opening and whenever they did go in, you could bet they would come out with a fecal sac. I suspect with five nestlings it was too crowded in there.

Kenn:
I will be thinking of you as you are trying to photograph the departure of your little ones. Being able to catch them in flight is one of my all-time thrills. I am rarely satisfied with my pictures but I did get about 10 in focus shots of them in flight this time and several of them were the best I have taken so far. That doesn't mean I won't be there on the next Fledge Day, trying to get an even better one. I was blessed yesterday with a cloudy-bright sky so I got minimal contrast and shadows but even then you never know how his wings will be positioned when you click the shutter. So much of it is just luck. And I wish you lots of it.

Dave

Man dave your really cranking those pictures out, Its looks like you got about 5 or 6 pictures of one leaving, with three of them after he took the big plunge with out even panning the camera, After pecking around I found the pbase web site and found the camera info, etc. man 1/4000 of a sec is fast, so I went to see what my 300D would do and it surprised me to see it also can do 1/4000 of a sec. Unfortunately you got me beat big time on the lens though, I think the fastest one I've got is the one that came with the camera. Oh well that's life, It's getting late, I'm getting tired, I guess I'll be heading to bed soon and dreaming about cameras, lens, and bluebirds.
Keith

Thanks,dave for all the info.I will have to check the box when I get home from work at 4.I sure wish I was off today to see what is happening....Jane

Awesome shots as usual Dave!! I wish I had the time to just sit and watch the nestbox, however I have been lucky enough to see one of our broods fledge last year.

Donna

Hi Keith

Yes, 1/4000 is usually fast enough to stop the wings, depending on how close you are to your subject. When you try to stop a hummingbird in flight you may need more speed, again depending on how close you are to him. When I shoot hummers I usually ask the camera for a little more speed, just in case.

All of the pictures up to now have been of the first fledgling. Here are three more shots. The first is of the second fledgling of the three, and the last two shots are of the third fledgling. I have cropped them 100 percent. If you look closely, you can see the nest dust flying off them. Also you may notice that the first shot was taken at 1/5000 sec. I shoot in aperture priority. On Tuesday I set the ISO at 1000 and the lens wide open (f/2.8). The camera decided the appropriate shutter speed. Maybe there was a change in the available light. All my cameras are capable of 1/8000.

I often dream of cameras and lenses too. :-)

Dave

Dave, I have been fortunate enough to see many of *my* blue babies fledge over the last 7 years but now, if I never see another one, it won't matter because YOU HAVE CAPTURED the most wonderful fledging photos I've ever seen! Far better than I've seen with my own eyes & binoculars! These photos are just fabulous.... it was like being there with a front row seat! Just WOW!

Thank you Janie. As I sat there all those hours I kept thinking, I don't know one other person who would be doing this. And then I thought of you. You personify the word dedication and you really are my inspiration.

Dave

Dave,all is well in the box.I checked it an hour ago,nice and clean and no surprises.I cleaned it out and put out some mealies.Before I got back in the house,they were there,Mom at the feeder and Dad back at the box,acting the same way as last night.Now I wonder if there was really a baby there last night or if he is just trying to get her to nest again this soon.He keeps going in and out and sitting on top singing.He needs to get busy and help her feed those 4 babies.Good thing I work or I would be sitting in a chair all day watching my blues.

Thank you, Dave, I am very flattered by your remarks. If only I could be as dedicated when it comes to learning how to take good photographs! :D I went to "camera school" a few years ago in hopes of being able to get good photos of my blues and other backyard favorites but I just can't cut it! Bet you that if I had your camera and equipment it wouldn't make much difference. (I've always said that you have to have TALENT beyond the equipment!) I'll leave the photos to you! We all appreciate your photos and are lucky that you are not only a dedicated bluebird landlord but a spectacular photographer!

Each day the fledglings have been coming closer to my yard and I expect one of them to follow the parents to the feeder any time now. Tomorrow will be one week since they fledged.

Here are some shots of them feeding two of them in the trees behind the house late yesterday.

Dave

Dang , looks like little JR. almost ate daddy's head off! LOL...They are so cute! My adults are running from the fledglings now so they hang out at the mealworm pan alot these days. I miss seeing the parents feed them. Thanks for sharing Dave. It always makes my heart happy to see your pictures.
Bonnie

oh wow Dave! I envy your talent. I can't even take bad pictures anymore because the batteries died and no one could get off the batter cover. Each person that tried tore up the groove even more.

So wonderful shots though. You have such patience to sit like that. (My bladder would never hold that long! LOL)

Dave,
Thank you SO much for posting your lovely pictures.I was in CA for 9 months and really missed my Blues here in OH.It was really nice to see your pictures presented with such great taste.I have never seen a fledgling take off.It was nice to see your pictures.It was like I was experiencing it through your pictures.You always get such good wing- action.Thanks for sharing.
michelle