Finches vs Squirrel

This morning I found this finch egg on our driveway and wondered how it got there. There is a family of finches in our grapevine and sadly they lost a little egg to something.  I left it and got to my day.

This afternoon the finches were making quite a racket, hovering like hummingbirds around the grapevine, scolding something fiercely. I didn't see it right away but after poking through the vine branches, I saw the squirrel's black beady eyes looking out. I got my broom out and chased it away. It didn't take long before I saw a furry tail right close to the nest again so I chased the squirrel away again. Likely, my efforts are futile but I'm hoping for the best for these feathered friends and their wee ones.

I just noticed a cat at the base of the grapevine. Lots of action today!

Here are a couple of shots of one of the finches, ruffled feathers and all.

I used my 60 mm macro lens for the image of the egg but for the finches I changed lenses to my 75-300 zoom. I chose a 1/160 shutter speed and aperture of f5. It seemed to be fast enough to catch the finches with good exposure. I love the fact that I can see the feathers standing on end and can feel the protective instincts alive and well in the finch.