Posts in Category: hummingbird
New Mexico! Intension
Black-chinned Hummingbird: Randall Davey Audubon Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 2024 — The western counterpart of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird we get in Maine, the Black-chinned Hummingbird is energetic and graceful. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
New Mexico! Tail on
Broad-tailed Hummingbird: Randall Davey Audubon Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, July 2024 — Tail on and almost too close, but who could resist? Also pretty dark in the corner against the building in the garden at Randall Davey Audubon Center. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving bird and wildlife action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
New Mexico! Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Broad-tailed Hummingbird: Randall Davey Audubon Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA — Not the best light, sitting in deep shade with an adobe building in the background, but still, sitting, and close. One of the more common hummingbirds at the feeders at Randall Davey Audubon in the hills above Santa Fe. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving bird modifications (1/500th). Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Not so Ruby-throat
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: York County, Maine, USA, June 2024 — I sat in the open doorway out onto our back deck for two hours yesterday afternoon, waiting on the hummingbirds to come to the feeder. They are much less dependent on feeders this time of year, with lots of flowers in bloom, but they do come often enough to keep my 8 ounce feeder full…though I have to replace the juice before they drink it all. They come about once every 15 to 45 minutes depending on the time of day…never staying more than a minute…long enough for a hit on the feeder and then away back to wherever they are nesting, or to feeding on the flowers. As you see here, even 1/2500th of second is not fast enough to freeze the wing tips, but even in full sun at f6.3 that puts the ISO at 2000. I will try 1/4000th today. 🙂 OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom. Program mode with my birds-in-flight modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Ruby in the sun
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: York County, Maine, USA, May 2024 — After my rainy day encounter with supplemental light, I tried for hummers in the full sun yesterday. They presented their own challenge…and the gorget is never as deep ruby as it is in subdued light…but still very ruby. Next I will try increasing my minimum shutter speed from 1/2000th to 1/4000th to unblur the wings…though I like the blurred wing effect on hummers. 🙂 OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 584 and 652mm equivalents. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Ruby Thursday
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: York County, Maine, USA, May 2024 — The neighbors had seen a hummingbird at their house so I got out and disinfected our hummingbird feeder. We had a couple of nice spring days with no sight of the hummer, and then it clouded over and rained for a day. I saw the hummer a couple of times and went out and stood and then sat on the back deck in the drizzle to wait. After an hour I gave up. That was Wednesday. Yesterday, after the rain stopped, I saw it come twice within 30 minutes so I got my camp stool and coat and hat and went out again to sit and wait. It came several times in the next hour and I managed a burst of shots each time. It was still very heavy overcast so I mounted my new Ulanzi Video Rechargeable Flashlight on the camera for supplemental light. It is a lot like any rechargeable led flashlight but is specifically made for photography and has a very even, high intensity beam, three color temperatures, and a tripod mounting hole. I have a little adapter for the hot shoe of the camera and it seems to work very well. Between the subdued natural and the supplemental light (set to cool daylight temperature) it certainly lit up the gorget on this male Ruby-throat, and shows off exactly where the bird gets its name. (I would guess this is 90% natural light at least. I could not actually see the flashlight beam, but I do think it made some difference.) OM System OM-1Mkii with the M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 436mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications (with give me 1/2000th at ISO 8000). Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Goodby Volcanos
Volcano Hummingbird: Paradiso Quetzal, Costa Rica, December 2023 — We generally stop at Paradiso Quetzal for lunch and hummingbirds on our last field day in Costa Rica, on the way back from San Geraldo de Dota to San Jose. This year the hummingbirds were sparse. According to our guide they just suddenly stopped coming to the deck behind the restaurant a few in October of last year. No one knows why. There were still a few (like two) Talamancas, and at least one Violet-ear, and a few Volcanos, like the one here, captured in flight near one of the feeders. And this is goodby to the photos from December of 2023. I have another trip half planned for next March…my first in the spring. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Costa Rica! Violetear acrobatics
Lesser Violetear Hummingbird: Batsu Gardens, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — a few more shots from the flower set-up at Batsu Gardens, on the mountain- side high above Savegre Mountain Hotel and Spa. On the day we visited, in the misty rain, it was mostly Talamancas and Lesser Violetears. The Lesser Violetear is probably the most common hummingbird in Costa Rica at all elevations up to Cloud Forest. They are super active and aggressive defenders of nectar sources. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 570mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Costa Rica! Talamanca in the rain
Talamanca Hummingbird: Batsu Gardens, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — Batsu Gardens, high on the mountain-side above Savegre Mountain Hotel and Spa in San Geraldo de Dota, was specifically designed for bird photography. There are two permanent metal roofed awnings for shelter from the rain when it comes…one primarily purposed for Hummingbird photography and one facing the moss covered structure against the backdrop of the mountains across the valley designed for the fruit and seed eaters. Generally Felipe Chacon, grandson of the original settlers in the Savegre Valley, and the garden’s creator, picks you up at the Hotel in a 4 wheel drive van for the sharp climb to the gardens, and then sets out an array of fresh flowers from the gardens to attract hummingbirds against a backdrop of the slope behind. You can have a cup of coffee or use the clean and pleasant rest rooms close by while you wait. He also puts out fresh fruit in front of the other pavilion, so you have your choice. There will always be hummingbird action near both awnings. We drew a partially rainy day with not the best light, but it is still possible to photograph the hummers without flash. This the Talamanca coming in to the set-up flowers in the rain. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 506mm equivalent (the hummingbirds are close!). Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. In the low light I was shooting at ISO 25600 to 32000 to get a shutter speed of 1/1600. I would, of course, have preferred a lower ISO and even higher shutter speed but we work with what we are given. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Costa Rica! White-throated Mountain Gem
White-throated Mountain Gem: Feathers Garden, Savegre Mountain Hotel and Spa, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, December 2023 — There are three Mountain-gems in Costa Rica. The females of the White-throated (common at higher elevations) and the Purple-throated (more common at foothill and mid elevations) are almost identical, with rufous breasts, green upper side, and a bold white eye-stripe, but the males are distinctive, one with a white gorget and the other, as you might guess, with a purple gorget. Both male and female White-bellied Mountain-gem would not be confused with the other two. They are all smallish hummingbirds with active, feisty personalities, and though always smaller in number, they keep up with the Lesser Violet-ears and Talamanca where they occur together. This is the White-throated Mountain-gem, both male and female, from two consecutive days at Feathers Garden at Savegre Hotel. OM System OM-1 with M. Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.