Photography series · Nature

The Nest

For: Nature magazine
Location: Kaeng Krachan, Thailand
Scope: Photography
Published: 08:50:00 26/05/20

Blue bird perched on a branch beside its nest — Photograph by David Waite

A blue bird, a nest the size of an egg cup and three mornings in a hide at the bottom of the garden. The picture is the one where it looked at the nest instead of at me.

The hide

Long lens, tripod and a flask. Bird photography is mostly waiting for a subject that owes you nothing.

The first morning it did not come. The second it came and left. The third it came, sat, and turned its head to the nest for the time it takes to press a shutter. That is the picture and that is the whole job.

Four birds in flight against a pale, empty sky — The same species, four of them, leaving in September. Photograph by Stephanie Gibeault.

The nest was empty by June and the branch has since come down in a storm. The picture is now the only record that either existed, which is a heavier thing for a photograph to be than I intended.

The hide

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