Cavity nests

[finnbay]

Went out looking for cavity nests this morning.

Goldeneye:

Merganser:

Saw-Whet:

And a couple of bonus shots. Lots of fog this morning:

Not a great pic, but got to see this bad boy. Wasn't in a hurry to leave, but played cat and mouse with this downed tree and it was hard to get a clear shot at him:

[Steve Foss]

That was a good morning, Ken!

[Dbl]

Great work!

[captainshane]

Nice shots! Really like #2 and #4.

[Canon Guy]

Nice series! #4 is great.

[dockothebay]

Terrific shots! We can hear the saw-whets near our cabin, but I haven't been able to find the nest (yet!)

[Steve Foss]

I do wonder about possible increases in population of cavity nesters. So much of northern Minnesota has gone over to aspen, and we all know how rotten they get and how many cavity opportunities there are for nests. We also know pileated woodpecker numbers/range have definitely increased, and they use aspen cavities a lot (not to mention that some of the nesters in Ken's pics use old pileated cavities).

Things that make you go hmmmmmm.

[JayinMN]

I am so jealous of your saw whet owl! Great thread!

[Todd Caswell]

very nice Ken, how far from water were the Goldeneye and merganzer nests?

[finnbay]

Quote:

I am so jealous of your saw whet owl! Great thread!

I'll trade you a saw whet for a lynx or maybe a cute fox kit with it's mommy!

Glad I can invoke a touch of the jealousy I see from so many of your photos and subjects!

[finnbay]

30 feet from the base of the tree. I actually had them looking down at me from the tree base, but almost tipped over from trying to hold the 500 up at them and couldn't get a sharp shot.

[finnbay]

Quote:

We also know pileated woodpecker numbers/range have definitely increased, and they use aspen cavities a lot (not to mention that some of the nesters in Ken's pics use old pileated cavities).

Very much in agreement, Steve. I have seen MANY more pileateds over the last 3 or 4 years. They seem to be everywhere!

[Hwood]

Nice stuff. Big thumbs up on #4

[JayinMN]

Quote:

I'll trade you a saw whet for a lynx or maybe a cute fox kit with it's mommy! grin

Fox and its a deal.

[dukhnt]

Awesome golden eye and merganser shot. Would love to get a shot like that someday.

[micpic]

I learned something today! I never knew goldies nested in tree cavities. I've had mergansers and wood ducks in my nest boxs but never a goldeneye. Maybe I'm to far south. Thanks for the lesson!

Mike

[itchmesir]

Awesome pics! Thanks for sharing