Behind Enemy Lines

Any opportunity to see something new excites me.
Glimpses into the natural world present themselves unexpectedly—unexplored treasures land almost upon my doorstep.
At times, I find myself caught between giddy exploration and more thoughtful restraint.
With a camera in hand, so much more can be seen.
Yet, how close is too close?
And when does my desire to discover interfere with what I want so badly to see?

I struggle to do what is best for both.
And lacking the experience with nesting birds and close contact with fledging hummingbirds, thought I might have the recipe for disaster brewing. Pictures of prematurely fledging babies are not what I’m after. Or abandoned nests, with orphaned young.
Just a clearer picture of what I have never before seen.

Tossed, I wrote to Julie Zickefoose.
Her experience and knowledge are beyond measure.
Her passion, directed as it should be.
Toward all things natural.

Her first question to me, “Are you sure your attention won’t bring predators in with scent?”
Jays, chipmunks and snakes might be alerted to the presence of a nest, if I’m careless in being near. Like the path in the woods that all must walk down, regardless of where it leads, scent is an invitation to explore further.
I must be careful of my presence there.
And not lead others to them.

I snapped just one close-up, waiting until she had left for food, and disappearing before her return.


Two hairy raisins sleeping soundly, already much larger than just days ago!
And a tiny bare wing folded against pink skin.

Then I sat at a distance, hoping to see her feed them before settling in again.
For almost 2 hours I waited, focused on the branch with a longer lens, perfectly still, watching the nest until my legs ached from the stillness.
Through the yard, chatter from another female and 2 males as they darted back and forth to the porch feeder.
And Mama chipping from behind me somewhere, though I dared not take my eyes from her nest.



I left for work without ever seeing her return.
Crossing the sidewalk in the front yard, I found a large black rat snake stretched out in the grass.
Perhaps she saw him there as I waited?
And watched his progress as he hunted.

I relocated him far from the maple tree.
And found Mama back at the nest that evening.
Resting beneath her leafy canopy in the rain.