Hummingbird Adventures #15

We came from here http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1012105/

SW, can you hear that hummie scream "eeeeeeeeek!"? Too cute.

The pic before the final one is "perfect," in that the detail is on the bird and the feeder, NOT the chair. Good job. Now how did you do that? I can't focus quickly enough, as I stated earlier. GR8 learning curve, girl! You're awesome.

WoW,,Looks like everyone is having fun with their hummingbirds... Wish I had more time to spend photographing mine.... Seven feeders going now and could really use a few more.... The invasion of the little monsters!!!... The little jokers are about to put me in the poorhouse buying sugar....


..Dave

Unc,
How did you do that? Your hummie photo is gorgeous! I'm a guess and by golly photographer, learning as I go. The camera manual isn't as useful as it could be and that is a humdinger of a photo! Don't know if I like the hibiscus (lovely color!) or the hummer (fantastic detail!). Overall a great photo!
I fingered out what I was doing wrong with my computer settings and now I've got my address bar back. For some reason it was set on bookmarks? Oh well, you live, you learn, and if you are blessed, you have really great friends who help you out when you get stuck.
Thanks KC!
Twincol, just got lucky. Or maybe I'm finally fingering it out! Have some more to share with you all that I took over the last couple of days. Still using the autofocus setting. Just push the photo button down half way to focus it (according to the manual), then when it stabilizes(?), I finish pushing the button down the rest of the way. I know I'm not saying this right, but I am tired.
Please forgive any duplicates.
Enjoy!
I believe that this is Zoom.

The hummies are not so sure about the perches, and so they keep flapping their wings, which makes the feeder sort of slowly spin around. Kind of funny. Gives me different views. I guess singing to them does help. At least they stick around for the performance, and seldom stick out their tongues at me when I do! LOL!
I did crop this one. Was taken on Friday, only good ones I got that day.

I don't have a clue who this is. Earlier today, for chuckles, I put two full feeders in the gh. (I put them in there because the wind keeps blowing all the food out.)
So while our named hummers, specifically Zoom, and the BCH's were chasing each other around, and not posing for photos, this sly hummer snuck in and ate his fill.
I'm thinking an adolescent or female, but don't know her/him by the markings like I do the ones I've named. I loved the little talons (feet) in this one.

For convenience sake, I believe I will call her, her for now. I'm sure if she sticks around y'all will help me come up with a good name. She looks pretty scruffy, and is very hungry! Look at her stuffing her face in that feeder flower!

The first two and last look spot-on for focus of the bird, SW! Wish I could get close enough to do that.

Uncle, that is a fabulous photo!

Hang with me for a minute, and let's watch scruffy hummer spin around. Look at her feet grasping the footrests!

I'm just using the autofocus, then cropping to get rid of the junk you don't really want to see in the gh, honest, KC. I guess that it has the telephoto thingy too. I use that as well, but it doesn't get as close as I'd like still. That is why I crop them too.
She's still clutching the perch, and wings are moving way fast. Think it's hilarious the way she plugs her face in that flower. Tee Hee!
More to come.

Doesn't this photo remind you of duc's Dot hummer? That was a few pages back on the thread. I might have it wrong, but I think it was duc's photo.
She sure is hungry.

I think she's getting ready to do a cannonball into the pool. LOL!

You know she even looks good from behind. Sort of sparkles and shines. : )

Love this peek out of her eye sideways.

Wow, look at how she stretches her wings! Don't mind her showing me her, her back when it looks this pretty. I am happy that I'm getting better detail, but I know I can still do better. I'll keep at it, and you'll have to suffer through it with me. Bless you all!

Look at the nectar drops on her beak. May not be the best photo, but I thought it was interesting that she came up for air. A moment later, and she has her head stuffed in there again.

See what I mean?

She alerted on something.

One last drink for the road.

Last photo of the day. She probably spent between 3-5 minutes feeding unmolested. I didn't post every single photo, but she just let me klick away. I was still singing too. The main thing is, she was kind of sweet, swing back and forth on the feeder, and more importantly I had no idea how much their stomachs could hold in one feeding. Take a look at her belly now! : )
Say Unc, please feel free to come by anytime and share your great photos. I really have enjoyed seeing yours. Same goes for the rest of you lurkers. It doesn't have to be perfect, many of mine aren't, but I keep trying and every once in a while I do get a good one. Even if you are too shy to post a photo, we're a chatty thread, so we share stories too. Mine is the one of the hummer bathing in a rose. Love the visual, and saw one myself, bathing in the leaves of my 4 0'clock, which I had just sprayed with water.
Walk In Beauty!
SingingWolf

Haven't been able to take pics lately. Sw...you go girl!! They're getting better and better. You can almost count the feathers!!

Uncle.....camera envy here, wonderful picture!!

We are so thrilled because the first Ruby Throat scout just came thru yesterday at 11.15 am and headed for the Pride of Barbados!

Ann

Yes, Sally, very much better, aren't they. Count the feathers? Nah, you can even count each little thread (?) on each feather in some cases.

SW, your practice is getting perfect, girl! WAY TO GO!!!

Your photography improvement made me go look at my camera and see what the little dial on top of the camera is all about.

{{H}}
Linda

plantladyhou, Wow! I just got chills from reading your post. My Dad would be so thrilled! I am too! Thank you for sharing the joy of the moment with us. It's just magical isn't it?
I appreciate the nice things you all say, but I know where I want to be as a photographer, and I ain't there yet. BUT, I am getting better.
Linda, the top of the dial? What kind of camera are you using? Mine has a couple of different dials, not to mention the telephoto, and I still haven't figured out the macro. Maybe they call it something different, but I am working on it.
Sally, I understand, and it's good, because you're doing what you need to be doing. I hope I get some good photos of the hummers today to help make yours a better one. : )
Uncle, you are always welcome here, and we hope that you get more time to take photos of the hummers too! Wow, 7 feeders! You need to buy stock in a sugar factory at the rate you must be going through the stuff! What a nice guy! : )
I had to go back and look at your photo again, Dave. It really is a beauty. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
I'll be posting more photos this evening, but I have to take YS to his Annual Physical so they'll let him go back to school. LOL!
WIB,
SW

SingingWolf;,,

I need to get my hands on one of those P90's and give it a test drive... I like the fact that it has a reach of 635mm optical zoom... Not bad for a fixed lens....

I have a portable hummingbird studio made out of a 2x4 piece of plywood painted flat black, on a stand I can move around... That makes for the dark backgrounds your seeing in the picture... I put my canon 10D on a tripod and just hold a bloom in my hand out in front of the camera and wait for one of the little jokers to fly to it, which doesn't take long... These shots are with a 20 mm lens from about 15 inches or so away... Sometimes it takes awhile for the hummers to get use too the noise of the camera when I hit the shutter button.. They can get a little spooky at first... Some of them that have been here for a couple years or better doesn't bother them any... They know whats going on and know I'm no threat.... Actually it's kind of fun feeding them right out my hands...

Now nine feeders... I stopped at Home Depot this afternoon and picked up a couple more... Will be putting them out in the morning... To many hummingbirds here right now... A lot of males chasing away all the young ones, and the females... I've been having to sit under the feeders and smack some tail feathers on the males with my fly swatter so the others can get a chance to get a drink...

Dave

Uncle GT, your hummers must be less spooky than my Anna's, or (more likelly) you have a WHOOOOLE lot more calmness and patience than I do. I loved the photo you posted, and I would really enjoy watching you set up and take a picture like that!

Well, Dave, aren't you just the smartest thing? What a great idea! You really should put that photo in the next contest.

Dave,
You are too kind, and made me LMBO! Today, whilst waiting for the hummers to perch someplace, I could of sworn that one of my bird buddies was deliberately trying to pull out the other hummers tail feathers. I had to laugh then too!
I've noticed that my friends, except the little female I call Zippy are spooked by the sound of the shutter (much better than calling it that button thingy) being depressed.
I will have to try your techniques for getting a good photo Op. I haven't fed a hummer by hand since we rescued little Sweetie Pie. Even then I only helped her eat til she had warmed up and was able to feed herself. It's all her fault. She got me started and then she told her friends where to find food. Now they come and go through the vent openings in the gh. Very adroit flyers.
I'm still learning how best to use the P90, and it is a great camera. In the right hands.
I keep trying anyway. : 0
Thank gosh for digital cameras so we can trash the bad ones.
Have a couple that were taken today.
Not sure who this is, but this spot will come up again.

You know I'm going to change my name to Comes in last! LOL!
After watching the hummers and their aerial combat for a while, one gave up and left the gh. The other stopped in for a quick refueling stop.

Had to check out both sides.

Not the best photo, suspect it is Zoom. I do see color! : )
He left the gh after this and while taking care of some chores sans camera, Zippy came in and chittered at me. Then Zoom chased her out again. It was nice to see her.

Zoom victorious!
I am still trying to get co-ordinated with the new controls on the camera. The telephoto is in a different place and I'm still not used to it. Didn't use the tripod today, it kept getting in my way, so am using two hands to brace the camera with. Prolly, better that way! : P (LAS)

What a clever boy you are, Dave! I looked and looked and looked at that photo of yours trying to figure out if it was a real flower or a hummingbird feeder you had there. And you actually feed them out of your hand? WOW.

I remember one morning watering my probably 10ft tall rose tree (no, the tree itself isn't that tall, it takes a pot to make it that tall LOL), standing under its canopy, using the shower head and spraying across the 4ft-wide pot, and suddenly I heard this low-pitched buzz by the back of my head. Suddenly there was a hummingbird taking a shower. So funny, so cute!

It's the only time I've seen such a thing. As wild birds go, hummingbirds are sure brazen, aren't they?

I love your idea of the black background. If I ever get to retire, I'm gonna set myself up similarly. Gotta remember that idea!

Linda

Think that this is the scruffy little girl I got so many photos of yesterday. She has discovered the second feeder which isn't visible outside the door of the gh.
Was using auto setting and cropped it too. I know that there is a better way. (Wrinkles brow!)

Nope, SW, Comes Last is MY name! LOL

Linda

She doesn't look as bedraggled as yesterday.
Remember that extension cord by the light bulb where the first hummer in this series was posted? Well this perch is directly beneath it. Right above her head Zoom was perched. They must have been tired because he ignored her and actually must have forgotten she was there, because he left the gh first.
Even though her mouth is wide open, she wasn't making any sound, probably just trying to catch her breath. Not to mention that her tail feathers look like they've been chewed up a bit. Poor baby.
Would have gotten a photo of the two of them, but forgot where I left the telephoto adjustment. Duh!
A fly swatter huh? Well Uncle, you learn something new every day. I've felt like swatting Zoomie a few times myself, but he is far to wary to let me near him. Smart bird.

I knew we were sisters! LOL!
I always feel like I'm trying to catch up, but hey, I've had short legs my whole life, so I guess I'm used to it. : )
Here's a slightly different view. I was trying to catch Zoomster too. Alas, not this time.

Just for scale, the photo before I cropped it.

There's Zoom right above her head.

There she is completely unaware of his location.