I was out in the courtyard on this beautiful morning, camera in hand, hoping for any photo opportunities that might arise. I was alerted by one of the thrasher parents to some activity in their nest in the little cholla cactus just outside of the courtyard.
Sure enough, when the parent bird left the nest, I could see some movement in the nest. From about 20 feet away, I pointed and shot several frames hoping that I could get a close-up of one of the nest’s occupants.
I didn’t see it until downloading the images to the computer, but this is a pretty good image of a thrasher fledgeling that looks as if it’s about ready to come out of the nest. Canon SL1 settings: 1/320sec, ISO 125, F5.6, 220mm focal length. Click on the image to enlarge.
We have given the birds their space since seeing eggs and then several hatchlings in the nest. There could be up to six of the little birds since we observed that many eggs a few weeks ago.
It always amazed me how birds that nest in cactus do not seem to get poked with a few cactus needles.
It is interesting. Thrashers, Dwarf Owls, Cactus Wrens and others build their nests in cacti and never seem to mind a bit.