Let's Talk BBQ
OTHER HOBBIES => OTHER HOBBIES => Topic started by: Smokin Don on April 15, 2013, 11:42:01 AM
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Backyard bird watching and photography
We have lived in our home since 1973 so this will be our 40th year. I don’t remember exactly but it was within a few years I started feeding the birds. When we first moved in there were just empty fields behind us and we had a lot of turtle doves. One time I counted a hundred setting on the electrical lines.
I went through a lot of feeders and first just fed a song bird mix. I had black birds and starlings coming in and read that any mix containing corn would attract undesirable birds. It recommended just feeding black oil sunflower seeds. I started using it and just put out a one pound coffee can full every day and I get all kinds of birds. One day in just two hours I counted 13 different species.
One day a friend at work told about feeding hummingbirds so I started that. I have been feeding them for over 20 years and they are a wonder to watch. East of the Mississippi River only gets the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds during the summer. They migrate here from Central America flying across the Gulf of Mexico or coming up the coast of Texas.
I always liked photography so it wasn’t long till I started taking bird photos. The hummingbirds are the hardest bird to photograph for me. Their wings beat up to 55 times per second. Even with a good camera the wings will appear as a blur, the only time you get the wings stopped is when they are full back or forward at the time of photographing. To stop their wings you need an expensive strobe flash that synchronizes with the camera. The little guys only weigh from 2 to 6 g (0.071 to 0.21 oz.). They are the only bird that can fly backwards.
It is easy to get photos of the different birds at the feeder; but harder to get good photos of them in a more natural setting in a backyard. Hummers are the hardest to catch good photos of, for them I find even with my 300MM lens I have to be about 10 feet or closer and have good bright sun. Using my Olympus E620 I shoot in the sports mode, it gives me a small aperture opening and a fast speed. I can also shoot in burst mode taking about 3 frames per second.
My workshop gives me a good blind to shoot from the windows and I have one feeder for the hummers I hang in the window with a suction cup holder. Another window gives me some good shots in a Lilac bush. I usually set my camera on a tripod trained on the hummer feeder and have set 3 hours before for one shot. Getting older I don’t have the patience to set long anymore.
The best feeders I have found I get from The Humming Bird Store out of Texas. They are a small family owned business. Their feeders are easy to clean and last well. Steve is using one of my photos in the short slide show on his site. He lets all on his mailing list know when the hummers first arrive on the shores of Texas every spring.
Link to the Hummingbird Store http://www.thehummingbirdstore.com/
The best hummingbird photographer I know of is Russ Thompson from Louisville KY. On his site Enjoyable Hummingbirds he has great still shots and videos some show him feeding hummers by hand and from his hand. Be sure and visit his site.
Link to Russ’s site http://rthompson8.homestead.com/hummers.html
I also feed Niger thistle seed to my gold finches. They are the only bird that goes through a complete molt; bright yellow in the summer and olive in the winter. For a long time I used an upside down feeder, they are the only bird that can eat hanging upside down. Lately I am using a mesh sock feeder.
I like to take photos of butterflies too and have a butterfly bush to attract them. I get some nice Tiger and black swallowtails, monarchs and a few other species.
If any of you are backyard bird photographers too, please share your photos with us.
A few years back I joined a local Arts Center and tried my luck at selling some of my photos. I found that not everyone wants to buy bird and butterfly pictures to hang on the walls. I did sell my still life of old street bricks for $60.
The following photos are some of my favorite ones from over the years, birds, butterflies and a couple of still lives. The close up of the hummingbird with black background was a young juvenile that I think was just out of the nest. It sat on a feeder and looked as if it was resting and had its eyes closed at times.
I was able to shoot about 30 photos of it and got as close as 3 feet. I didn’t scare it off, it finally left on its own. It stayed around and was the last hummingbird I saw that fall.
My best of male Ruby Throated
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/P6067841_2_zpsd04be422.jpg) (http://s1039.photobucket.com/user/deains/media/My%20Favorite%20Photos/P6067841_2_zpsd04be422.jpg.html)
Monarch
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/P6147941frm_zps0ea05ee6.jpg) (http://s1039.photobucket.com/user/deains/media/My%20Favorite%20Photos/P6147941frm_zps0ea05ee6.jpg.html)
Juvenile resting
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_7120816frm2_zps20ff33dc.jpg) (http://s1039.photobucket.com/user/deains/media/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_7120816frm2_zps20ff33dc.jpg.html)
The same juvenile on a feeder
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_7120826_zpsc164c87a.jpg) (http://s1039.photobucket.com/user/deains/media/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_7120826_zpsc164c87a.jpg.html)
Tiger swallowtail with Orton effect applied
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_8020925_2_zps332d7143.jpg) (http://s1039.photobucket.com/user/deains/media/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_8020925_2_zps332d7143.jpg.html)
Before Orton effect applied
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_8020925_zps3e1d9749.jpg) (http://s1039.photobucket.com/user/deains/media/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_8020925_zps3e1d9749.jpg.html)
Monarch on Lilac
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_8171149_3_zps252194e4.jpg) (http://s1039.photobucket.com/user/deains/media/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_8171149_3_zps252194e4.jpg.html)
Monarch & Bee on Goldenrod
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_A151760frm_zpsfecd7bfe.jpg) (http://s1039.photobucket.com/user/deains/media/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_A151760frm_zpsfecd7bfe.jpg.html)
Old street brick, my patio
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/PA261853_2_zps03debc19.jpg) (http://s1039.photobucket.com/user/deains/media/My%20Favorite%20Photos/PA261853_2_zps03debc19.jpg.html)
Old entrance
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/PB171904_zps11a7f30c.jpg) (http://s1039.photobucket.com/user/deains/media/My%20Favorite%20Photos/PB171904_zps11a7f30c.jpg.html)
Male Mallard
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_4192810_zps2efd9c9d.jpg) (http://s1039.photobucket.com/user/deains/media/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_4192810_zps2efd9c9d.jpg.html)
Tiger swallowtail
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_6103058_zpsf1f46d11.jpg) (http://s1039.photobucket.com/user/deains/media/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_6103058_zpsf1f46d11.jpg.html)
Goldfinch on dried cone flower
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_9103721_zps09160c31.jpg) (http://s1039.photobucket.com/user/deains/media/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_9103721_zps09160c31.jpg.html)
Goldfinch 2
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_9103741_2_zps38b79361.jpg) (http://s1039.photobucket.com/user/deains/media/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_9103741_2_zps38b79361.jpg.html)
Goldfinch 3
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_9103743_zps921ffadb.jpg) (http://s1039.photobucket.com/user/deains/media/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_9103743_zps921ffadb.jpg.html)
Juvenile preening and ruffling his feathers
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_9223924_zps952d3e7b.jpg) (http://s1039.photobucket.com/user/deains/media/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_9223924_zps952d3e7b.jpg.html)
Female landing on feeder from The Hummingbird Store
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_9037018_zpsa8aa6deb.jpg) (http://s1039.photobucket.com/user/deains/media/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_9037018_zpsa8aa6deb.jpg.html)
Smokin Don
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Wow, Don, these photos are really amazing!!!
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Very cool photo's, thanks for posting
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Very nice Don!
Nothing makes me happier than seeing the first hummingbird at the feeder in May/June.
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how are the pictures so clear? I like how it looks like for one split second time stopped. very cool photos. I like them. :)
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Beautiful Don! Tell us about your camera gear, and settings if you can. I am impressed with your shots.
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Very nice shots! Can you share any info - camera . lens / ap / speed etc...?
Thanks!
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Your photos are top drawer!! Love your work.
Art
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Beautiful. Hummingbirds are my favorite. Just amazing to watch
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Great post.
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Very cool
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outstanding - thank you! 8)
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Outstanding photos Don!
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Great photos Don!!
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Beautiful photos Don, thanks for sharing. We feed the birds year round and hummers in season. I have seen up to 5 Golden Eagles in the air at one time in our neighborhood and my wife saw 2 Bald Eagles this year already. She is an accomplished bird watcher, I am just a beginner but she is trying to teach me.
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Very nice photos ! Well done. But to be honest the only one I would waste the time cooking was the duck ;D
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Thanks all. For those who ask about camera info etc. My first digital SLR camera was an Olympus E410 that came with two lenses, a 14-42 mm and a 70 to 150 mm. I wanted a Canon but a comparable one was twice what I paid for the Oly. With the Oly’s four thirds sensor the lens focal length is effectively doubled.
Not quite satisfied with the 70-150 mm lens I bought a 70-300 mm 1:4-5.6 ED lens. That’s the lens I use for my bird and butterfly photos. A few years ago I updated to the Olympus E620 camera.
I shoot all the bird and butterfly photos in the sports mode, the camera decides all the settings and I use the burst mode. It’s supposed to do 4+frames a second. I have tried manual settings but the camera does a lot better job than I can.
With the E410 I shot in the raw mode and came out with better photos, but the E620 gives me great photos in the largest jpeg setting. The files are about 10X13 inches and 34MB.
The first photo of the Male Ruby throat was shot with the E410, camera settings were IS0 400, F4.5, 1/640 sec. speed and FL was 125 MM.
The 3 goldfinch photos were done with the E620, camera settings were ISO 800, F5.6, 1/400 sec. speed and FL was 300 MM.
What post processing I do with Photoshop elements and usually I just adjust the lighting with levels and do an unsharp mask, that is a built in action. I like it better than sharpen. For those who use PSE; settings I got from online class to use for the 3 settings you can change are Amount 85 %, Radius 3.0 pixels and Threshold 4 levels. I use this for birds and butterflies; for people photos I use a Radius of 1.0 pixels.
I hope this answers everyone’s questions. You can PM me if you like and I will help if I can. Don
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Wow! Pics look great.
Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk
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Hey Don!
Nailed it. Capturing birds well is an art form in itself, you nailed it. Do you have any of your work on your walls?
It ain't his camera that takes those shots, it's Don. I have a "better" camera and there's no way it hell I could reproduce his shots, not even once. I have a gaggle of cameras, both film and digital. No matter what camera I'm using, you can tell it's me. All come out looking the same.
Carry on my good man!
xo, Biggles
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Great Photos Don......I'm not a camera guy and I am completely lost when you describe the lens, camera and settings. It shows that you really enjoy the hobby.
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DocBiggles brings up a point
I'm a pro photographer and for many years produced my serious prints in my darkroom
I also owned a wedding portrait studio and had a pro lab produce my customer's prints
when I went digital I went looking for a good digital lab to upload my files to
I used my local Sams for a number of years until they stopped keeping their Fuji printer up to speed
Costcos have high quality Fuji Frontier printers
most can print up to 12x18 (photo silver print) in house on their printer, $2.99
they also have in-house high quality inkjet printers and can usually print in-house to 20x30, mounted
I can order on online 20x30 silver photo print for less than $10
delivered to my door
I am NOT a pro, but a very dedicated amateur. I travel and take 3000 - 5000 shots a year. I've done most of my printing at home - I use an Epson photo printer. But your comments re: Costco, etc. are enticing. Thank you!
David
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Hey Don!
Nailed it. Capturing birds well is an art form in itself, you nailed it. Do you have any of your work on your walls?
It ain't his camera that takes those shots, it's Don. I have a "better" camera and there's no way it hell I could reproduce his shots, not even once. I have a gaggle of cameras, both film and digital. No matter what camera I'm using, you can tell it's me. All come out looking the same.
Carry on my good man!
Thanks Biggles for the kind words, I think you are being a little modest about your abilities. The one example you gave in Food Photography using existing and bounced lighting was pretty darned good. Knowing lighting is a knack in it's own. That's one area I am not very good at. Don
xo, Biggles
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Beautiful photos Don, thanks for sharing. We feed the birds year round and hummers in season. I have seen up to 5 Golden Eagles in the air at one time in our neighborhood and my wife saw 2 Bald Eagles this year already. She is an accomplished bird watcher, I am just a beginner but she is trying to teach me.
Ken you and the wife have some nice birds to watch! I get Coppers Hawks in my yard all the time looking for a meal. They have been coming in quite a few years and I only have one good shot of one. I did get one shot of one in the air and could see it was carrying a squirrel. We have a lot of Blue Herons around and I tried several yrs. to get a good shot of one, no luck. They are too alert and usually gone before I can get a shot. Don
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For any of you beginner to pro, if you want to learn and improve there are two sites that are about learning photography through the world. treklens.com and treknature.com I started posting in treknature but they were too strict on photo content so I switched to treklens where you can post about anything. You will get critiqued by others and they will help you improve. I posted over 600 photos there before I stopped and they are still there, if you want see just search deains. You will see bad and good! I think I learned a lot from there and still e-mail a friend in Canada I met there. Don
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Remote bird photos
Back when I was still using point and shoot digital cameras. I bought a Canon Power Shot and one of the programs that came with the camera for a PC was for shooting photos from the PC. It came with a USB cable to connect and you had the ability to see what was in the view finder control the zoom and snap pictures. I thought this is what I need to shoot bird photos. The USB cable was only 4 or 5 foot long. I tried an extension but it wouldn’t work.
Not giving up I did some research and found some USB repeater cables 20 foot long and said you could add as many cables as you wanted. I called and ask if I could order one & if it didn’t work return it & they said sure. I ordered one.
The cable came and I set it all up, I had a PC on my back porch, ran the cable through the window to my camera set on a tri-pod. I needed at least 50 ft. to reach close to the bird feeder so I ordered two more cables. I think they were about $15 to $20 each.
When the cables came it was a nice sunny day so I got it all set up. I had the camera focused on the bird feeder. I sat at my PC waiting for birds to show up. Getting restless I stood up and looked out the window. There was a male Cardinal perched on my camera!
If I would have had another camera handy that would have made a great photo!
Not only did I almost get bird doo on my camera it never worked out well. The time delay from the PC to the camera was too long and the bird had moved or was gone by the time it snapped the picture. Oh well back to the drawing board for better bird photos.
Don
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Don, your bird on the camera story reminded me of the difficulty my brother in law was having trying to photograph some monkeys in Peru...
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That is a priceless photo to have! Don
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Bird seed has really gone up the past few years. Black oil sunflower seeds are about $1 a pound and niger thistle seed is $2 a pound. I did find the niger seed at Tractor Supply at just over $1 a pound. I quit feeding the sunflower seeds for my regular birds, mostly because they were starting to use my Smokin Deck as a roost at night and making a mess. I miss them already, every evening I would have 30 to 100 feeding, mostly sparrows and house finches but a few others.
I miss mostly seeing the cardinals, in winter months I always had 4 or 5 pair in feeding but mating season usually just a pair, but I would see them everyday. I am still feeding the goldfinches, niger thistle seed in a mesh sock feeder. I am going to order an upside down feeder soon so that will save on seeds.
The hummers will be here soon my cousin about 60 miles south saw her first one so they will be here soon. I'll get some feeders up tomorrow. At least sugar water is fairly cheap.
Smokin Don
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Will be visiting Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge this weekend for BirdFest Texoma. Hope to get some nice shots (not just of the birds).
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I have a ton of things to do but sometimes you just have to take time to watch the birds! Her are some shots of my Goldfinches.
Don
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_5018761_zps9ca34ef2.jpg)
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_5018762_zps8781a403.jpg)
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_5018763_zps67f22de1.jpg)
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_5018765_zps2e4ae80f.jpg)
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Beautifully composed and love the bokeh! You have a great eye!
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Don, Thank you so much for sharin your love of nature and photography with us. One of the amazing things about this forum and a few others is the passion for a variety of things people bring to the rest of us.
I would like for all who have great photos such as those shown by Don and David to bring them to the Gathering to share with those who are able to attend. David, aka DRholly, has spent quite a bit of time in Central and South America with his family and camera and he has graciously said he will share his experiences with us there. Any of you others who have hobbies, experiences, or exfpertise and plan on attending, please share those with us. Please let me know so I can make any arrangements you need and we also we make a semi-schedule so we can get it all it. By the way, the Gathering is only five months away from last week. Dee
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You never know what you might see in my backyard!
Over the 40 years we have lived here I have fed the birds and squirrels. For a couple of years I had two squirrels that would take peanuts from me. I have seen probably two dozen different species of birds. Two I feed are Gold finches and Hummingbirds. I have seen rabbits, opossums and raccoons. Three springs in a row a doe rabbit had litters in a half a whiskey barrel I had for flowers right outside my back door. Surprisingly my Dalmatian left them alone. I never saw any deer but several winters I have seen tracks in my yard.
In 2005 I had to put my Dalmatian to sleep, the hardest thing I ever had to do. I had her cremated and buried in my backyard. Before the year was over I got a cock-a-poo from the humane soc. She loves to chase squirrels so I quit feeding them. One time he had a hold of a squirrel and it had a hold of him. I got them apart; the squirrel had drawn blood on him. He still chases them but don’t think he wants to catch them!
My dog has killed two opossums and been under the shed with one twice. I had a hard time getting him to come out. One night when I let him out he was in a fight with a young raccoon.
For the last 7 or eight years our vacations have been to visit the kids. My wife was on to me about going somewhere different. I said just sit out and you’ll be surprised at all the wild animals you will see in the backyard! She only sits out some in the spring and fall when there are no bugs! The very next day I looked out and there was a female Mallard duck there. I hollered at my wife and said get out here you have to see this! It walked around awhile and I did get a picture of it before it flew away.
This morning I looked out and knew she would never believe me so I took this photo to show her. Here was a Moose, leisurely taking a bath in my backyard! I was surprised it was not drinking a Moose Head or Buck Naked Beer! Smokin Don
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_5098849_zps143afe70.jpg)
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I like the way you captured him looking at you out of the corner of his eyes - nice shot! ;) ;D
David
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(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/askabutcher/kodak/020607quail.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/askabutcher/kodak/2-3quail3.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/askabutcher/kodak/birds2.jpg)
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For a while I had a pair of Red Shoulder Hawks that were getting too comfortable living with us :o
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/askabutcher/redh06142.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/askabutcher/bbqbuddy.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/askabutcher/kodak/0208hawk3.jpg)
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Nice post Rumm, I like your quail bait!!! Good hawk photos! Don
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Great post Rummm - nice shots. Love the quail trail.
David
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I saw my first hummer here in Wapakoneta, OH yesterday May 9th.
My cousin in Dayton, about 50 miles south of here saw her fist one about a week ago so I had three small feeders out for them. It was a male, they come first and scout out an area to claim, then the females arrive a few weeks later. The male will usually mate with two or three females. He will let the ones he mated with feed but will chase all other ones away. He perches near by during the day and guards his area. I saw one twice yesterday.
This morning while setting out I saw one four times so I got one of my larger feeders out that had a perch. It wasn't long until one came and set on the perch and fed, he then hit two other feeders and left. Early I never know if it's the same male or not since some will just stop in to feed and head on north. Smokin Don
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No Hummers here....but, we do have Painted Buntings and the males are just as elusive as the male Hummingbirds it appears. This is the best I could get of the males. Hard to see, but the females are worse, they are just a dull green. The females will go to the feeder and the males show up a few minutes later, chasing off the females and any other bird there!!! Except for the stupid Grackles :(
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/askabutcher/kodak/bunting2.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/askabutcher/kodak/bunting1.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/askabutcher/kodak/bunting3.jpg)
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Thanks Don for the beautiful portraits.
Sweetie and I enjoy the beauty of them.
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Rumm you have some beautiful birds to watch! I looked up the Painted Buntings and they are colorful! It said they are very shy!
I got a new upside down thistle feeder for my goldfinch; I was getting too many sparrows on the sock feeder. My goldfinches for some reason don't go to it yet. But I got some new birds Pine Siskins on it, I have seen at least six. They are migratory and their range is sporadic so don't know if I have always had them or not. They are slightly smaller than gold finches, same color on the wings, light brown head and belly is white w/brown streaking. If I get some good sunny weather I will try to get some good shots of them. Don
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Some pics of the Pine Siskins. I forgot to mention the Pine Siskins are a member of the finch family. They can eat well hanging upside down like the Gold finches. The House and Purple finches I have do not eat upside down. Not the best photos, it was windy and partly cloudy but they show the colors of the bird. The thin yellow stripe on their wings is hard to see.
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_5148888_zps423f8923.jpg)
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_5148892_zpsfe1e7305.jpg)
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_5148895_zpsdeffeb31.jpg)
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_5148908_zps29b10406.jpg)
Smokin Don
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Great shots.
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People like y'all with your beautiful pictures are really showing nature's beauty and I for one really appreciate it. Dee
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There are some excellent shots there. You have an excellent sense of timing - great feel for the subject. I enjoy looking at your pictures!
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Lovely images, Don. You have a great eye. :)
I had an opportunity to take a couple of bird/nature photography seminars given by Lou Nettelhorst http://www.lounettelhorst.com/about.php and Roy Toft http://www.toftphoto.com/about.php and learned a lot. If you get a chance to take their classes, jump on it, if only for the stories about how they were able to get certain images.
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I have not taken the time much this summer to enjoy the birds. The past week or so the traffic at my hummingbird feeders has picked up. They are starting their migration south. Yesterday I had three in a group go through the yard fussing and dueling. Home alone I decided to sit for some photos. I didn't do very well. I got one of a male Ruby Throat that is just average. Shown below his throat does not show up red, you have to be almost head on to see the bright red. Lighting was poor, the best is if I and the sun are lined up with the bird, I was at a different angle. The one of the Goldfinch on my upside down feeder you can see the seed hull just to the right and below the beak. Those little guys can hull out and eat the Niger thistle seed at more than one a second!
Male Ruby Throat
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_8189799_zps6efc712b.jpg)
Goldfinch
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_8189789_zps9a2cb722.jpg)
Smokin Don
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Don you are a great artist.
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Man I need your camera! This was about as good as I can do with my cheap point and shoot
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Great photos! (http://www.niscienceclasses.org/main/Smileys/fantasticsmileys/main_thumbsup.gif)
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I haven't really enjoyed the birds and flowers like I should so don't have many photos this summer.
Here are three flower shots I liked.
Old and New
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_7089361_zpsead03013.jpg)
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_7099378_zps44211e9e.jpg)
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_7099379_zps83deef6c.jpg)
Two shots of a female ruby throat hummer
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_8199839_zps00d086ca.jpg)
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_8199842_zpseddc1b69.jpg)
Out of 35 shots that day these were the only keepers. Not the best background but good detail on the hummer. So you can see getting good shots of hummers is about 5% skill, knowing what your camera will do, and 95% luck! Smokin Don
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Aug 30 2013
In about 20 years photographing humming birds I finally got some decent photos of two doing a little aerial combat. Usually the battles are so quick and the two are gone before I can ever get a shot. These two today seemed to not be that aggressive and they were staying close to the one feeder. I sat in a chair about 10 feet away and shot 80 photos.
The hardest part is getting the birds in focus; the birds are too small for me and the camera to get a good focus on the birds. I have to focus on the feeder and hope the birds will be in focus. After looking at the photos I could see the reason they were not that aggressive is it was two young birds and on the one I could see it was a young male just starting to get his red throat. They were probably born around here and not transients.
This time of year they are starting their migration south. I think my place is marked on their built in maps as a place to stop and tank up a day or two. For the past two weeks I have seen them a lot every day.
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_8309928c_zps45406221.jpg)
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_8309940c_zpsb390192b.jpg)
They seem to be looking at the bird on the feeder
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_8309942c_zps8eb0481d.jpg)
The one on the feeder has two dark spots on it's throat
The start of a red throat
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_8309960_zps6d51e9db.jpg)
Smokin Don
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Don,
Great shots, again! They do seem a bit more interested in the picture than each other.. :) Your zone focus seems to be working.
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For at least two weeks I have had 3 hummers chasing each other all day. I am sure they are juveniles born around here and are reluctant to head south. Here are six shots I took yesterday. The one in the tree is a rare shot for me, the sun just happened to be on the bird. If you don't see them fly into the tree they are very hard to spot.
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_9160073_zps74f52de3.jpg)
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_9160077_zpsada2c699.jpg)
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_9160078_zpscadce708.jpg)
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_9160082_zpseb617cd2.jpg)
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_9160100_zps3a156d8e.jpg)
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_9160128_zpseb19bfa5.jpg)
Smokin Don
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Beautiful photos, Don! Our hummers are all gone now, the last one left a few days ago.
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Not a bird but a bird sized insect. This male Praying Mantis was on my outdoor light. A male from the brown color, the females are green. A beneficial insect that eats a lot of other insects.
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_A050285_zps853e978b.jpg)
(http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a474/deains/My%20Favorite%20Photos/_A050286_zpsef8b9f16.jpg)
Smokin Don
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That's a strange insect, we don't have those over here :) Awesome Picture!!!
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Great shots, Don. You have excellent patience and a great eye.
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Good shot, Don!