I keep birding ethics in the forefront when I’m out in the field, and am always cognizant of how my presence is affecting the birds I’m observing. If I find myself too close, or sense that I’m causing them stress, I move back – or move on – even when my photographer brain objects. And this is especially true for nesting birds, which are already stressed.
Which is why I’m embarrassed at having basically tripped over two different nests already this year: one right on the edge of a trail, which I think belonged to a warbling vireo, and this eastern kingbird nest, in a branch overhanging the water, and which I became aware of when I drifted beneath it in my kayak and and the kingbirds objected.
I’ve written about kingbirds before, and their fearlessness even in the face of much larger species. Fortunately, this pair settled for a tongue-lasing, and giving me several wary looks as they watched me quickly back-paddle and move to a more appropriate distance.
I grabbed a few shots and saw one of the parents return to the nest, which was a good sign. And then I moved on, apologizing for having disturbed them.
It was an accident, drifting in right below them – but it was also a reminder: I was so focused on watching the shoreline brush and looking for movement among it that I forgot to look up! And as we all know, birds are in fact more often found…up.