Carolina Wren

Silhouettes in Nature /  by Todd Henson

I’m not certain if I’ve experimented with, or shown, photographic silhouettes before. Something prompted me to try it with these two photos, and so here you are, two examples of silhouettes in nature.

Caroline wren in silhouette

When I first photographed these birds I wasn’t thinking about creating silhouettes from them. I simply didn’t think enough about the exposure with these strongly backlit subjects, which resulted in a fair bit of underexposure. I suppose that’s what sparked the idea of silhouettes.

Song sparrow in silhouette

I increased the contrast in post, darkening the darks and lightening the lights. As simple as this is, I enjoyed it and I could see myself trying this again, either with photos already in my library or actively seeking to create these in the field.

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A Wren and the Guard Rail /  by Todd Henson

A Carolina wren sitting atop a guard rail post.

Today I wanted to share an interesting and humorous little bit of behavior my father and I observed from a Carolina wren while we were hiking the trails of a local state park. We had just exited the woods and the trail then paralleled the entrance road, the two being separated by a guard rail to protect any hikers.

As I exited the woods I noticed a small wren sitting atop one of the guard rail posts, its tail tilted upward in that characteristic wren fashion, with their fast little movements. My father and I stopped and I attempted to capture a few photographs. The light wasn’t ideal and I didn’t have as long a lens as I’d have liked for this subject, but I still wanted to capture any images I could. I love wrens and sometimes they do interesting things. This one didn’t disappoint.

The Carolina wren hopped to the guard rail facing us.

I wouldn’t say the wren was overly afraid of us, but at the same time it obviously wanted a little more space, so it hopped onto the guard rail facing us and then quickly hopped down into the bottom hollow of the inside of the guard rail, watching us the entire time. When it moved into the hollow between the guard rail and the post I quickly moved a little closer. Doing this I could get closer without it seeing me move. Sometimes this lets you get closer to a subject. It’s similar to waiting until a diving duck dives under water before moving closer to the pond. Only move when the wildlife doesn’t see you.

Hopping along the bottom hollow of the guard rail the Carolina wren tilts its head back watching us.

When it popped back out into the open, still in the bottom hollow of the guard rail, it paused and looked our way. It hopped on to the next guard rail post and went through that little gap. Once again, I moved to keep up with it, but only moving while it was hidden behind the post.

After emerging from the other side of the guard rail post the Carolina wren once again looks our way.

I captured one final image of it pausing before entering the next hollow. After it emerged from the other side it flew up into the nearby trees where it met up with what appeared to be two or three more Carolina wrens.

A final photo of the Carolina wren pausing before hopping into the hollow between rail and post.

Watching it hop along that guard rail hollow, and moving between guard rail and post, was such an interesting behavior and one we thoroughly enjoyed watching. I hope you’ve enjoyed this little retelling of the experience.

Have you seen similar behavior from wrens or other birds?

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