This is the story of the mother wren trying to feed her babies. Mother wren chose a man-made birdhouse as her nesting place. Well, it was really a metal hat, hanging on a post on the inside portion of an outdoor patio. I guess if I were a mother wren, and I am not, I might choose this lovely hat as my home. There is some precedent as I know of an old woman who lives in a shoe. So, why not a wren in a hat?

Anyway, we sat out on the patio watching the wren try her best to bring food to her hungry babies. She was nervous with us sitting just five feet away. Adding to her stress was my large lens, pointing directly at the hat with her babies. She perched nearby eyeing me. I stilled myself, lens pointing toward the hat, waiting on her. Standoff.

After a couple of moments, she made her move. Onto the perch she came. Then, without feeding her babies, she flew off a short distance to the tip of a nearby flagpole, never taking her eye off me.

Eyeing me she posed nicely on the end of a flag pole.

Eyeing me she posed nicely on the end of a flag pole.

Finally, she gathered enough courage (or maybe the food was beginning to spoil) to fly to the feeding perch. The babies were more than ready.

Finally comfortable enough to feed her babies. If you look carefully you can see the babies month agape.

Finally comfortable enough to feed her babies. If you look carefully you can see the babies month agape. And if you can’t see the bug’s bug-eyes, look at the image below – zoomed in!

 

Under the circumstances, you'd be terrified too!

I wonder who is more terrified, the bug or the baby bird about to get the bug as food.

So, that’s dinner? That is one incredibly ugly bug. And large (as compared to the baby wren). The photography wasn’t easy but the shot turned out OK. I even got catch lights in the bug’s eyes!

And, remember, it’s all about the light – bug-eye style.