A Week Of Hummers

[canonloader]

Well, these might be the last of them. I haven't seen either of my hummers in 3 days now. I've seen other say the same, they just disappear one day and don't come back. I've found that for fill flash, the on-camera flash worked out a lot better than the beamer or the 550ex without the beamer did.

http://www.freeassociationblog.com/Slideshows/rubythroated_hummingbird/gallery/album1/large/rthummerm-img_5116-061607.jpg

http://www.freeassociationblog.com/Slideshows/rubythroated_hummingbird/gallery/album1/large/rthummerm-img_5269-061607.jpg

http://www.freeassociationblog.com/Slideshows/rubythroated_hummingbird/gallery/album1/large/rthummerm-img_6641-062207.jpg

http://www.freeassociationblog.com/Slideshows/rubythroated_hummingbird/gallery/album1/large/rthummerm-img_6660-062207.jpg

http://www.freeassociationblog.com/Slideshows/rubythroated_hummingbird/gallery/album1/large/rthummerm-img_6662-062207.jpg

http://www.freeassociationblog.com/Slideshows/rubythroated_hummingbird/gallery/album1/large/rthummerm-img_6665-062207.jpg

http://www.freeassociationblog.com/Slideshows/rubythroated_hummingbird/gallery/album1/large/rthummerm-img_6666-062207.jpg

http://www.freeassociationblog.com/Slideshows/rubythroated_hummingbird/gallery/album1/large/rthummerm-img_6692-062207.jpg

[witchy]

Just beautiful!

[kenyc]

Wonderful Mitch sorry if this is the end of them for now. At least you got some great shots, including these. I have not seen any at my feeders, I may have been too late myself, don't really know, guess I should read up on these guys.

KAC

[canonloader]

Thanks Witchy and Kenny. Well, as some people here know, sometimes when I say something, it happens soon after. Like I wish I could see a GBH, then the next day I get shots of 6 different Herons. Well, it just happened again. I said they were gone for 3 days, and they have been. I just rolled my computer chair over to the window, and saw the male at the feeder, then another male made a swoop on him and they flew around the yard and one of them came back to feed. :lol:

I need to research this some more. Let's see if it works. "I wish UPS would deliver a 1D Mk2s here by mistake, then forget where he dropped it off!" :mrgreen:

[wlaramie]

Thanks Witchy and Kenny. Well, as some people here know, sometimes when I say something, it happens soon after. Like I wish I could see a GBH, then the next day I get shots of 6 different Herons. Well, it just happened again. I said they were gone for 3 days, and they have been. I just rolled my computer chair over to the window, and saw the male at the feeder, then another male made a swoop on him and they flew around the yard and one of them came back to feed. :lol:

I need to research this some more. Let's see if it works. "I wish UPS would deliver a 1D Mk2s here by mistake, then forget where he dropped it off!" :mrgreen:

Great shots Mitch. If you have any luck with the 1D Mk2, how about sending one my way too!!! :)
We still have a male and female and I hear you on the one driving any other hummers away. One poor little guy was feeding and the dominate male actually flew by and clipped the intruder. Amazing how Territorial they are.

[JC4]

Nice shots. You're right, the fill flash from the on-board looks great.

Good luck with the UPS delivery. I think they're pulling up now, you better take a look outside :)

[canonloader]

Thanks Bill and JC. I don't know why I even tried the popup flash with the Bigma, but it worked very well from 5 or 6 feet away. None of that edge shadow.

The UPS truck went by about 5 minutes after I typed that. But he kept going. :D

[Reyno]

Good for you Mitch, I have yet to see a soul in my neck of the woods. Outstanding captures as always, like em all.

[canonloader]

Thanks Reyno. I would think they would be thick as ticks in Florida. If you have a feeder set up, I know you have to change the liquid out every 4 or 5 days, whether they drink it or not. It goes bad, can even grow a fungus in the water. I even boil the water before mixing in the sugar. It seems to help. :)

[wile_e_coyote_n_taz]

Awesome shots!


bill

[bob393]

Just super!

[superdiver]

Just superb stuff man....

I was in Guatemala at the Tikal ruins and found a tree full of hundreds of different (looking at least) hummers...

I was only able to get a few shots...YOURS are superior my man!

[Jay Lowery]

those are good shots. are they crops? these little guys move a lot around here its extremely hard to get one still for even a split second. they seem to mess with me too going closer and closer to me so i cant focus.... I like #1 he or she looks proud to be in that pic.

[ErikT72]

Wow, looks like you had a great week! Very nice captures you have there. I had one dancing around in front of me for a few moments this morning and couldn't even get one decent shot, let alone several...

[blonde]

great shots!!

[hTr]

Great Set Mitch

How damn fast do the wings go? I mean what shutter speed would you need to stop them?

[canonloader]

Thanks Bill, Bob, Superdiver, Jay, Erik, Snir, and Gary.

The feeder is only 6 feet or so from the camera. I use the Bigma and zoom in to under 300mm which gives me a fairly wide view and let's me focus. I set focus to manual and just guess at something that will be close. Then I center the frame just to the left of the feeder hole he uses most often and wait. When he starts feeding, I just bang away on slow burst mode, 3fps. Some come out with his nose in the hole, some with him far enough back I can crop out the feeder.

These keepers took several days to get and my light here is crap so I really can't use high shutter speeds. It takes over 1/1500s to almost stop the wings. 1/2500 will stop the wings. Higher would be better, but I just can't get that and have any DOF, even with flash. :)

[tmcilwain]

These are fantastic. Love the 1st shot. Great series.

[MicheleRF]

Really sweet Mitch! I've had a couple of female ruby-throated's at my feeder (until the darn racoon knocked it down) and they fight like crazy. I didn't realize they actually made a noise besides the wing hum.

[jw1047]

Excellent shots, Mitch.

Are these birds common in your area of the US?

Do you have the feeder near the house?

[Jim7226]

As usual, fantastic hummers. :)

[canonloader]

Thanks TM, Michele, James and Jim. Michele, I have thought I heard them make a noise, like a super high pitched squeak, but I wasn't sure, it was a little above my range. :)

James, the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird is the only hummer in the Eastern half of North America. They seem pretty common, I have a few that come to my feeder, which is only 5 feet outside my bedroom window. I sit inside and shoot through the window, so these are only 6 feet or so from the lens. I know of several other people around town who also have feeders up and they have hummers too. I hear if you put up more than one feeder, you might get several pairs, but with only one, these little guys are very territorial and will chase the others away. I've had my male come right up in my face when I go out there in the yard to clean his feeder. :)

[Maureen Souza]

NICE!!!!

[silvex]

Great work!!! OK... I wish the UPS man dropped a 600mm L IS and few moments after a bald eagle will nest few feet away from my house...:)

[canonloader]

Thanks Maureen and Silvex. I hope you get what you wish for. :)

[Canonada]

These are some of the best hummer shots I've seen. I really like the first, third and last where you have captured the bright red neck.
Very well done Mitch.

Joe

[canonloader]

Thanks Joe. That throat patch is very strange. Depending on the angle of the light, it can be almost any color of red, then change to black or gray in a heartbeat. :)

[donlavange]

We had them at the feeder in early May for about 10 days. . . . . then and since, gone. I kept up changing and washing the solution cups for a while, but I have given up!

For next year, my plan is to have multiple containers , clean, filled and refrigerated so that one trip to the feeders will cut down on the tendancy to put off the cleaning and trips back and forth to the feeders. Every three days iS a task. But that is the recommendayion. . . 3 days!

[canonloader]

Don, I worried about the time it takes to clean and refill them also. I waited til a slow time and right after he would leave, to go fill and clean it. I figured I had ten minutes before he would be back. Next spring I will have a couple of them, and they won't be this type. Mine holds a bit too much and most of it goes to waste. But I do boil the water and that gives me 5 or 6 days before it gets cloudy.

[Jay Lowery]

weird that they disappear to you guys, i get at least 20 at the feeder daily. and the same ones come back all day long.

[canonloader]

Where are you located? In the Western US, there are more than one species, which would account for that many at one feeder. These guys are so territorial though that two males at the same feeder would fight all the time.

[rocklyons]

You done good. As usual.

[MDG56]

Nice shots Mitch, I always feel sorry for you guys that live so far north and that like hummers you get such a short time with them. Here in Southern California we have at least two types that are here all year round and they live and stay in your backyard. Of course because the Allen's are the strongest fliers that live here they are the ones that take up shop in your yard and push all the others out. I usually have one alpha male that claims the yard but right now I have two weaker males sharing the yard. Whats bad is here they don't like to sit in the sun so they find some deep shade somewhere and sit in that all day so you really can't take good pictures of them. With them sitting all day they feed a lot less than ones that fly around looking for food, only about one or two times an hour. I have three feeders in the yard but the orioles and finches share some of them.

The one feeder I found that works the best and is the easiest to clean is one that is like a flatten circle that the whole top comes off so it only takes a few minutes to wash out and refill. Also the best way to keep the sugar water from going bad so fast is to keep the feeder in the shade but I know you want to take pictures of them so you'll just have to change the water more often.

Mark

[canonloader]

Thanks Rock and Mark. While I grew up in the northern midwest, and never saw more than a few hummers then, I lived for years in San Diego, Phoenix and Albuquerque and other places along the coast. Hummers seemed to be all over the place out there, although I didn't have a camera then. The ones here do like to sit in the shade too, but because their aren't all that many flowers out they can eat from, they come to the feeder about every 10 minutes or so. That makes up for it. :)

[donlavange]

Don, I worried about the time it takes to clean and refill them also. I waited til a slow time and right after he would leave, to go fill and clean it. I figured I had ten minutes before he would be back. Next spring I will have a couple of them, and they won't be this type. Mine holds a bit too much and most of it goes to waste. But I do boil the water and that gives me 5 or 6 days before it gets cloudy.

I read a story in a magazine about a guy that changed and cleaned his regularly and one week he neglected it. He was sitting in his living room chair and the Hummer just "hung" outside his window staring into the house until he got up and "did his duty"!

[MDG56]

Mitch, since your birds migrate and have to get fattened up for the trip I guess they still feed quite often even though they sit a lot, here the males have only one job in life so if it's past mating season they just lay around so their energy levels are down and hardly ever feed. I think the ones here definitely like the cooler weather and as I am about 9 miles from the ocean it is cooler here than inland so they are quite a few around here.

Of course this year was different, during the winter I had a strong alpha male that stayed here and he would do his mating flight on any female that came in the yard even though it was still winter. He was cool and would let me get about 3 feet from him and not be afraid but even though he had been here for months he just disappeared and another took his place. The ones now aren't very aggressive and I have seen only one time one of them doing his little mating flight on a female and it was a pretty weak one at that.

Mark

[canonloader]

Don, yes, I have gotten the guilt trip myself. I would occasionally move where the feeder was hanging, to get a better angle for shooting the birds. Last time, I moved it further out, but where it was in the sun longer. It had been closer to my window hide and in the shade several hours longer each day. The male would see me in the window, fly over to the new position, then fly back to where it had been and hang there and stare at me. He did this several times until I got up, went outside and moved it back. He was happy again. :)

Mark, I have the one alpha male who is diligent in running off all competition. And one female who has a nest somewhere close by. Occasionally another female will show up for a drink, and the original will come out of nowhere and chase her off. The male doesn't care about the females. :)

[MarkEvan]

I knew it would be a bad idea looking at this thread, now I have my "I wish we had hummers here" head on ;) .

All fantastic photos, the in flight ones always amaze me.

Mark

[Alex Paul]

Don't know how I missed these Mitch :) :) Outstanding series here buddy :D :D

[canonloader]

Thanks Mark and Alex. These guys are fun to shoot, but it's going to be a few days before I do any more. It just zoomed up into the 90's and 90%. No way am I going out in that. :D

[Sindri Skulason]

Amazing Hummer series. Both thumbs up. :-)

[canonloader]

Thanks Sindri. They seem to be back after a few days off. I am hoping to see some babies any day now, although I haven't spotted the nest.