Hmmm, it doesn't appear that I can edit my message, but pictures are below: 3 days old: 8 days old 11 days: 13 days: Mom: Dad: Both parents working hard: Baby looking out: (sorry it is so blurry) Empty nest:

Sagrinin, I'm in the same boat as you! Yesterday I went out to check on the blue bird box to find the babies gone. I stopped opening the box after seeing that there were indeed eggs and just resorted to peeking inside. Fairly sure there were only two babies, and although they disappeared so suddenly, the timing was right. It has been over two weeks since I discovered the eggs. I just hoped to see the fledglings leave, learning to fly, etc. guess that's not how it works. At first I feared a predator. I hope they're ok! What do you think?

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

Sorrry I didnt see this sooner. 1> your hubby saw the baby leave the box...did it go up to a tree limb or down on the ground? Wont even get to # 2 until you go out and look under bushes and trees if it went down...If it went down and you find it and it can not fly, put it in a bucket or box with a towel or in bird cage and run back in here for help.....right now you need to be sure the baby is not on the ground. If it went UP then you are done. Very common for the parent to return to the box with worms after the babies leave.