Spotted Flycatcher nest

The spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata) nest is rather inaccessible as it's a bit above eye level and jammed in against the wall behind a rose branch. I'm reluctant to spend too much time near the nest in case I scare off the parents. To get a nest shot I mounted the camera on top of the tripod and set it to a manual focus of 30cm with the flash stopped down by -0.7. Setting the timer mode I then pressed the shutter button and lifted the camera on the tripod to above the nest and about 30cm from it angled down...

When the timer ran out the shot was taken and I moved away. The whole process took less than 6 seconds of being near the nest so hopefully will have done no harm. I'm pleased with the result - two gaping mouthed flycatcher chicks. Perhaps there are more chicks in the nest out of shot but I don't know. I also used this technique to capture the swallow chick. It involves a fair bit of luck as you are pointing the camera blind but so far it has worked out OK.

The adult flycatchers are great to watch and use two main perches from which they swoop down usually to a few inches above the grass in order to catch an insect before returning to the perch. Their favorite is the cane on the end of the broad beans and this certainly helps when waiting to get a photo as at the top of the page.