Waite Bird Photos Inc

I have been photographing birds at the nest for 40+ years and my associate for the past 25. It’s very rare that either of us have witnessed predation of the young. Last year we lost nests to Wilson’s Warbler (Short-tailed Weasel) and a Black-headed Grosbeak (Cooper’s Hawk) and it was suspected that a Douglas Squirrel took an adult Varied Thrush because the squirrel was seen in the immediate area.
Both of us got in a great deal of trouble 15 years ago in the Okanagan Valley in the interior of BC for photographing a species that neither of us knew was at risk. We were both charged by the Canadian Wildlife Service with 9 criminal charges each with potential for fines of $450,000 or 5 years in jail. Those penalties have since been increased. I suffered 3 mental breakdowns and vowed to never attempt to photograph another bird.
We have certainly changed our methods of taking photographs over the years. We both usually work from a blind from a distance and fire the camera with a cable but often this isn’t necessary as the subjects quickly become tame. We always put down ground up moth balls to throw off our scent from predators.
We decided this year to simultaneously photograph subjects with a camera equipped with speed lights (high-speed strobe) to capture adult birds in flight, a specialty of the both of us, and with a movie camera.
Last week Damon lost 2 nests a short distance apart likely to the same predator. When I visited the second nest with only one chick I knew it was a pregnant situation and that the predator (I suspected a Cooper’s Hawk) would likely return. It did but was a Douglas Squirrel. It truly upsets me to see bird nests robbed but the predators have to live as well.
To see photos of Black-headed Grosbeak and Wilson’s Warbler predation photos scroll down to the appropriate link and look at people’s comments - globalbirdphotos.com

Global Bird Photos is currently upgrading its site to online for the marketing of bird images from bird photographers around the globe. It’s primary purpose is to have text to accompany the images to shed light on the behaviour of birds and methods used to obtain the photo. Here is a Chestnut-backed Chickadee that was taken 18’ up in a 3” in diameter dead fir. The photographers built a platform in an adjacent tree working within the safety guidelines of the Workmen’s’ Compensation Board. Because the nest was located in a shaded area, the photographers used 3 high-speed strobes at a distance of 10 feet from the nest.