forgot to say everybody's pics are fabulous
First try at hummingbird pictures
i lost my yellow buddleia and I haven't been able to replace.
Genna----Awesome pics! What a show you must see.
Susan WOW! Look at all the hummers! Great pictures everyone! This is my first year with hummers and I'm just learning how to take their pictures too.
I took this one a little while ago.
and this one
Such great pictures everyone!!!! They are just so darn cute!
They are so fun to watch.... I was watching out my back window the other day and my daughter said, "I can't believe you just stand there and watch them like that" and I said I thought they were beautiful - and she yeah they are, but she didn't like to just sit and watch them. I guess I have always been fascinated with them....grew up with them visiting our Mimosa trees as we sat in lawn chairs underneath. I was amazed then, and still am! I love standing near the feeders and having them buzz by.....
We stand at the kitchen window and watch them! Well we watch the whole backyard. Around 7:15 every morning we call it "Breakfast at the Randolph's"! Squirrels, Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, Carolina Wrens, Mourning Doves, Chickadees and Hummingbirds all show up for breakfast. I love to watch them.
sounds like a zoo!
Hi Annie:,,,,
Yes,, but I'm having a hard time trying to keep the little clowns on the blooms.. Between the beeps from the auto focus, and the mirror going up inside the camera right before it records the image is just enough noise to spook them... I'm having the same problem with the feeder shots as well.. Using a 20 millimeter lens and only having the subjects no more than a foot away is just to close trying to get these type of shots.. A friend of mine is going to come over one of these days and take the pictures from a distance that won't spook them so I'll have them on the blooms.. Maybe this weekend if possible.. In the meantime I just keep trying, and hoping they would get use to the noise... No such luck so far, but at least I have them feeding out of my hands.. I've had them land on my fingers while holding one of their feeders, and yesterday for the first time one landed on my knee while sitting in my lawn chair that I plop myself into when shooting them...
wonderful picture Uncle!! keep 'em coming.
Susan
=^..^=
I am soooo jealous!!!
on your knee??????????
:-)
A.
Amazing!!!!!!
Annie;,,
That was a first for me... As long as I've been feeding these little birds I've never had one land on my knee... I've had them land on my fingers many times and brush up in my face when chasing each other off the feeders when holding them..... I wish I could of got a picture of that... I find that any fast movements spooks them fairly easily, so when your working close, try and make any movements SLOWLY.. Trying to get them use to the noises coming from the camera is a real chore...
..Dave
Susan;,,
With as many hummers as you have at your place you should be able to really get some awesome closeups.. Give it a try, you'll have a ball, if you can keep from laughing at the little jokers from all their funny noises and moves...
We have 3 feeders this year. Two of the feeders are in sight of one another in front of the house and the third is in back. One particular male, we call him Fig Sitter, purches on the top of our small potted fig to guard the back feeder. He guards one out front too. so he is really busy. He's the tiniest HB, but he is the big boss. He leaves the third feeder to other males. Today I counted 6 HB's in front, four peacefully sipping at one feeder (a first--they must all have been female), and two duking it out at the second feeder. The largest number I can substantiate is six. I believe there are more, but they are so fast, and come and go so quickly, it's hard to see whether there truly are more. We also noted something we weren't aware of previously. Besides the usual humming of their wings, they can make a high-pitched scream with their wings to fly in fast and initimidate their rivals. The sound is like a tiny fighter jet. Little War Birds heh heh. The pictures here are incredible. I just got a Canon digital, but don't yet do anything but point and click.
I am so amazed and in awe. I have your hand and hibiscus shot as my background,Uncle. I am at the just luring him into my yard stage.To have a wild creature like a flying jewel,LAND on you, is (i imagine)one of the most exhilarating feelings life can offer. a wild creature who connects ever so briefly to a human,reminds us of our own wild natures. We all yearn and desire for something,and I want my hummer to land on me!!!!
Keep taking those pix please. Shall I sit in the yard at the same times each day,or try to go out every time I hear him?
Pam,that's a lot of action! My hummer is really noisy and almost annoying with his tail chirping. A study was done right here in my home town,where I often walk my dogs, all about it!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/08/MN6FUU96H.DTL
did you see my set up ? so far ,no action :-(
This thread is great. thanks for sharing .
A.
This message was edited Jul 29, 2008 7:22 AM
Annie, It looks like you've set up a party for your hummers. I can't see how they'll resist it. Also, I can see you reflected in the window--very cool. I am going back now to read the study you've referenced. I hope you are successful at getting the HB to land on your hand. Pam
Annie;,,
If you have a patio table out in the yard where you sit, relax, read the paper with your morning cup of coffee you might just try putting the feeder on the table.. They will find it and in time get use to you being there.. I can literarily hold a feeder in my hand and walk anywhere in the yard or just sit in a chair and have them feed from it... They just get use to you.. I'm out in the yard or greenhouse working most of the day so their always around me. I keep my feeders scattered in different areas to try and keep some of the males from chasing away the others... As more of the young ones start showing up I have to put out more feeders.. The young ones can be a real hoot to watch.... I was going to delete this pic but thought it was kind of cute and wanted to share it with everyone...One of the youngsters learning to feed from the feeder...
..Dave
Oh that pic is a keeper!!
Dave - Your pictures are truly amazing. The last one is too cute!
Such amazing pics everyone. The Hummers are so fascinating.
Dear Dave,and crew,
Thank you so so so so so so much for the advice. No feeding from the feeder yet,but really really reeealy close encounters as I sit and drink coffee and read each morning. I am on a new level with my little dude. Here is my new set up. Dave thank you. keep your magnificent pix and advice coming. they are inspirations.I am hummer Driven!
This message was edited Jul 31, 2008 8:50 AM
Annie;,,
Hey!,,,, Thats the way kiddo!!.. Before long you'll have those little jokers eating right out of your hand.... You won't be needing those binoculars much longer, just your camera...
..Dave
One more,.. than I have to get back to work..
Are you putting hummingbird mix in the flower? Or is he just coming to the natural nectar?? Those are amazing pics.... would love to try that, but then I don't have much time to just sit and hang out on my porch.....
Genna
Genna;,,
Use an eyedropper and just put two or three drops in the bottom of the bloom.... Any more than that and it might leak out between the petals... Sometimes it leaks out anyway... If that happens I stick a small piece of paper towel down in the bottom to hold the liquid...
I know what you mean about not having enough time to hang out on the porch... I'm just lucky enough to be working outside during the day and have so many of these birds around me... They kind of get use to you...
dave, I had to call my hubby to my computer to show him your pics. they are incredible.
Well, I will have to try that...... I don't have many things still blooming because of the heat - but I will see about getting them to come closer by bribing them,...
Thanks for the pics and the info.
Genna
Dave
Your my hero.Even if you beef the hibiscus up with nectar! So far I have one little guy. He is looking right in my face and sipping from all the flowers around me,but never the feeder. His little buzzing motor is the most exciting sound i have ever heard. But his continual,day long tail chirping,coming from my neighbors house is killing me with jealousy! Dave,the binoculars were just for humor.He buzzes right in my face!
Genna,when you love something,you make the time. For example,I am rising an hour before i have to,to sit silently by my feeder and worship at the church of hummer.
Dave,any more tips for me??? which nectar do you use?Plain feeder nectar or are you hold'n something out on me! Do they run on a timeclock? Those pix are amazing...your like a gigantic Salvia!! Please send more pix and tell us more.
A.
This message was edited Aug 2, 2008 10:22 AM
This message was edited Aug 2, 2008 10:23 AM
We came home today, and I almost had heart failure. I walked out into our screen porch (8' deep) and wrapped around the hummingbird feeder to the right in the attached picture was a black racer snake. I didn't even notice it for a few moment because I had let the dogs out the back door. I wasted a few moments yelling for my husband to come look, when I should have run for the camera, by the time I got back the snake was just dropping off into the hydrangea.
Needless to say, the hydrangea received a severe trim today. So, lesson for the day, if you've had your feeders in the same spot for a few years, see what plants might have encroached to give access to predators.
Just dropped by on this one. Great hummer pictures! Uncle, those birds coming to the flower in your hand! That's just incredible. My hummers are shy and I'm just starting to photograph them.
Annie;,,
No special nectar,, just plain sugar water.... How ya coming along, making any progress?
..Dave
Mine are very shy also. On occasion one of the migrating hummers will get closer. But the few hummers that stay around between migration seasons very rarely get anywhere near me. And I'm in the yard often enough. I've always just had flowering plants. I put up a feeder for the first time less than two weeks ago, which didn't attract a lot of feeding activity. Then this morning I found the feeder on the ground, the part under the bottle broken. Coons did it, that I'm sure of!
one of my first shots... just putting my two cents in... I am so excited that this was my first year seeing hummers in my yard everyday
and another
Hi all
Love the pictures. We have a single feeder out and a few hummers. Last fall we were sitting in the shade by the feeder and a male dive bombed my husband. He said it sounded like an airplane heading for his ear.
Uncle greenthumb what brand, etc. of camera are you using. I just bought a digital slr with a Carl Zeiss lens I was so impressed with the pics I saw from it. Are you changing any of the automatic settings.
GREAT PHOTOS - crisp and clear
We have a hummer thread over on the Birdwatching forum. We would love to have you all share your photos there too if you would like to.
One of mine
I have a few shots from today
