There's probably too much stereo base here, not a great focus, and I doubt if it can be aligned perfectly but it was about the best I could do at the time.
I could not fit my Nikon camera in the small space over the nest where it's located under my awning. I had to use the smaller W1 in 2D mode holding it over my head on on my tiptoes using trial and error until a got a fairly decent pair for a cha cha. I pushed the W1 up against the awning roof over the nest but the maximum distance I could get was probably less than 6 inches. I tried it with and without flash as well but as I expected, the flash at such a close distance was a little too much.
I was totally surprised to find not only this many eggs but two being from a different species!
During my research online I found
an explanation which I've included for you to read for yourselves if you're interested...
The four eggs to the top and right are House Finch eggs. The two on the left are Cowbird eggs. Cowbirds are parasitic birds that remove an egg and
lay their eggs in other birds nests. Read more about Cowbirds.
Usually there is only one Cowbird egg per host nest - these eggs could
have been laid by two different birds, or the cowbird may have been
unable to find another host.
Source Website... http://www.sialis.org/picture%200626hofi.htm
Cool Facts
- The
House Finch was originally a bird of the western United States and
Mexico. In 1940 a small number of finches were turned loose on Long
Island, New York, after failed attempts to sell them as cage birds
(?Hollywood finches?). They quickly started breeding and spread across
almost all of the eastern United States and southern Canada within the
next 50 years.
- The total House Finch population across North
America is staggering. Scientists estimate between 267 million and 1.4
billion individuals.
- House Finches were introduced to Oahu from
San Francisco sometime before 1870. They had become abundant on all the
major Hawaiian Islands by 1901.
- The red of a male House Finch
comes from pigments contained in its food during molt (birds can?t make
bright red or yellow colors directly). So the more pigment in the food,
the redder the male. This is why people sometimes see orange or
yellowish male House Finches. Females prefer to mate with the reddest
male they can find, perhaps raising the chances they get a capable mate
who can do his part in feeding the nestlings.
- House Finches feed
their nestlings exclusively plant foods, a fairly rare occurrence in
the bird world. Many birds that are vegetarians as adults still find
animal foods to keep their fast-growing young supplied with protein.
- The oldest known House Finch was 11 years, 7 months old.
Source Website:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_Finch/lifehistoryIn the past I was mistakenly calling this birds "Purple Finch", but an internet associate belonging to the same art website as me saw my image and informed me it was a "House Finch". Here is here short message and related website to explain the difference between them...
Hi Brian.. the picture you're showing of the Purple Finch is actually a House Finch.
The House finch has a beak where the top bends downward.
The Purple finch has a conical shape.
That's the best way to tell them apart.
:-)
This might help:
http://www.pbase.com/rcm1840/purple_finch_vs_house_finchHere is also a couple of 2D images I took of the happy couple on my deck railing using my 300mm zoom lens on the Nikon D600 (through two glass windows on my storm and house doors). I resized them smaller...
Above, the male seems to be yelling at the female, "Look At Me When I'm Talking To You!"
Cha cha, W1, PS-CS6, SPM, IrfanView
2D House Finches - Nikon D600 with 300mm zoom lens
Cheers,
Brian
My Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ur4chun8/
My photos according to "Interestingness"...
http://fiveprime.org/hivemind/Tags/Brian,Wallace,3d
Capture Maryland: http://www.capturemaryland.com/users/Starg82343