Ruby Throated Hummingbird


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This weekend has been a lot of fun photographing the hummers. At one point we had as many as 4 battling for supremacy in skies over the feeders. The most interesting has been what I assume is a male Ruby Throated Hummingbird who comes in much less frequently than the others.

These birds are fiercely territorial. The hummer in my initial batch of photos has laid claim to the feeders. He will sit atop the crook that holds the feeders or in the nearby Meyer’s Lemon Tree and chases off any interlopers that venture into his domain. Sadly, the Ruby Throated gets chased off every time he shows up so we don’t see him often, and when we do see him he only stays for a few moments.

Still, I have managed to capture a few good shots as evidenced in the previous post and here are two more.

In this picture will notice how he strains his neck as he scans for the dominant hummer

Ruby Throated

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Ruby Throated

And In this picture you can see he doesn’t even land on the perch, choosing instead to hover for a better chance at a quick getaway should the Bully of Hummertown return.

Ruby Throated

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Ruby Throated

Be sure and click the above images to see a larger, more detailed photo.

I can’t say enough good things about the Sony SAL-70300G lens I have been using. Sharp as a tack and the IQ is phenomenal when using it to focus and track such small and fast moving targets.

Hummingbirds In Flight


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It’s a greater challenge to loosen the camera on the tripod and try to track these speedy little guys and get shots of them in flight. They hover occasionally, but only briefly. They seem to be getting used to my presence, though. And that means they’re coming to the feeders more frequently and giving me more opportunities.

Adolescent Blue Jay


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This guy has been coming around, landing on the fence and then hopping up and down making a frightful racket and then jumping onto the feeder. It’s pretty humorous when it happens.
Click image to see full size.

Blue Jay

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Blue Jay

Bully Of Hummertown


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King Hummer

The Hummingbird has taken up station on the crook that holds the feeder. Previously he had been flying in, feeding and flying off and would return every 10-20 minutes. Now he is camped out protecting the feeders from any other hummer that tries to get some food.

On The Wing


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On The Wing

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On The Wing

On The Wing

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On The Wing

The Honeypot


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Hummingbird Honeypot

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Hummingbird Honeypot

Once the feeders have been up for awhile you get a sense of which of the perches they’ll tend to favorite. This allows me to setup the camera on a tripod, take aim and wait with the wired remote in hand.

This was shot with the flash and using the 70-300G lens

Hummingbird w/flash

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Hummingbird w/flash

This was shot with no flash using the 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens

Hummingbird w/macro

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Hummingbird w/macro

And this was with the 500mm Reflex and no flash.

Hummingbird w/Reflex

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Hummingbird w/Reflex

Allen’s Hummingbird?


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We’re pretty sure this is a female Allen’s Hummingbird we have visiting. She’s very curious and even hovered outside the back window and just looked at Cynthia. I didn’t have the camera ready for that but she did come back and flash us with her gold throat. Click the image to see a larger version.

Allen's Hummingbird

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Allen's Hummingbird

Backyard Birding Report – Aug. 16th, 2009


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Put the feeders out this weekend and we have our first Hummingbird of the season.

Click the image to see a larger version.

First Hummingbird of the season - 2009

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First Hummingbird of the seaston - 2009