Crazy Hummers - a Whole Lotta Chasin' Goin' on!

As I mentioned to Rog in his thread earlier this year in the Bird Talk section, I knew that soon after the 1st of July my 1 nectar feeder would be taken over most likely by a female Ruby-throated. That happened about 10 days ago and there's been a lot of squeaky chases as a result. I've added another nectar feeder to help the vanquished, but can only sit by with my camera and try to record the participants.

My lone male bugged out around July 1st and has only been sighted once since.
This is one of the last images I was able to capture of him.

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CamFan01 wrote in post #17040209
As I mentioned to Rog in his thread earlier this year in the Bird Talk section, I knew that soon after the 1st of July my 1 nectar feeder would be taken over most likely by a female Ruby-throated. That happened about 10 days ago and there's been a lot of squeaky chases as a result. I've added another nectar feeder to help the vanquished, but can only sit by with my camera and try to record the participants.

My lone male bugged out around July 1st and has only been sighted once since.
This is one of the last images I was able to capture of him.

IMAGE LINK: http://s407.photobucke​t.com …x700_zps1fbd163​a.jpg.html

I pretty sure this is the female who is trying to dominate. She looks to be mature and if you look closely you'll see she has a slightly deformed middle toe on her left foot.

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The other "player" I've identified is this 1st year male seen here deep in concentration.

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And later perched.

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The remainder are other birds visiting my back deck "sanctuary" who I find difficult to identify. I'm sure there are one or more 1st year birds in this collection, as well as the afore mentioned male and female.

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http://s407.photobucke​t.com …x700_zps134dbe4​7.jpg.html

http://s407.photobucke​t.com …x700_zpsb125566​b.jpg.html

So I'm guessing I've got about 3 regular female/juvenile visitors and a male who shows up sporadically. These kind of numbers represent a average hummer year for my back yard, but based on the comments of others locally and on this board I'm guessing I should consider myself lucky to have those. I hope you've enjoyed these and will feel comfortable enough to leave behind thoughts, ideas, comments and critiques. Thanks for stopping in.

Looks like one female, juvi male(s) and a mature male . Nice captures.

Very nice.

I'd be happy with these Steve. My favorite is number 4, I really like that angle.

Very nice set Steve, other than 1 and 2 which seem a bit hot in the white, that is likely my preference for darker and underexposing, they are sahweet, detailed and nice color, very nice indeed, I hope toget some with flowers tomorrow. Great job.

Hey Steve, as Bret said "Sahweet!" And I'm still in pretty much the same boat-It's a girl's world out there! I do have an occasional male adult visitor, but they're so skittish, a slight movement or camera click and adios! But PROGRESS-do have visitors to my salvia-blur-black like yours. Think it is a single bird, I thought a juvi male but if your 2nd shot posted is a female, then I don't know. Thought the dotted throat area indicated a young male. Hope to post later this evening and get that clarified. Anyway, good shooting, Buddy!

This is such a lovely set. I still have males here and my feeders are being emptied daily. This year my feeders are more popular than the flowers. I think they are addicted to the organic sugar I use. LOL

Excellent set there Steve. I'm hoping I might see some at the southern end of Canada when I visit in a couple of weeks. Do you think that's likely?

Beautiful set, Steve. I particularly like the one of the male and his level of concentration on his task. Like Bret, I think some of the shots are overexposed a tad. If you use LR at all, I might lower the luminosity a wee bit on a couple of the colours. But overall, super sharp, beautiful shots. Wish they'd visit me a bit more this year! BTW, what is that blue flower? I've seen it before and think I need some.

Very nice series Steve. Hummingbird shots take so much patience waiting for them & trying to anticipate where they'll go. Great job!

Nice set.

Great job Steve! Love them all.

Beautiful set!

TedEllis wrote in post #17040243
Looks like one female, juvi male(s) and a mature male . Nice captures.

Thanks Ted, for the comments and the IDs. I think my attending population shifts daily!

Mel-S wrote in post #17040269
Very nice.

Thank you Mel.

SJC from VT wrote in post #17040296
I'd be happy with these Steve. My favorite is number 4, I really like that angle.

Thank you Sandy. I'm still trying to work all the angles

Oldjackssparrows wrote in post #17040504
Very nice set Steve, other than 1 and 2 which seem a bit hot in the white, that is likely my preference for darker and underexposing, they are sahweet, detailed and nice color, very nice indeed, I hope toget some with flowers tomorrow. Great job.

Thanks Bret. I'm pretty sure #2 especially is a little hot for your taste. I'm still working on my settings but have moved my EC further into the negative almost every time.....per you!

ardeekay wrote in post #17040617
Hey Steve, as Bret said "Sahweet!" And I'm still in pretty much the same boat-It's a girl's world out there! I do have an occasional male adult visitor, but they're so skittish, a slight movement or camera click and adios! But PROGRESS-do have visitors to my salvia-blur-black like yours. Think it is a single bird, I thought a juvi male but if your 2nd shot posted is a female, then I don't know. Thought the dotted throat area indicated a young male. Hope to post later this evening and get that clarified. Anyway, good shooting, Buddy!

Always appreciated Rog! I'm no expert on hummer ID, but am basing my guess of #2 being a female by how old she looks in the feet. Almost all of mine have dotted throats to a greater or lesser degree so I'm still learning to tell them apart.

butterfly2937 wrote in post #17040763
This is such a lovely set. I still have males here and my feeders are being emptied daily. This year my feeders are more popular than the flowers. I think they are addicted to the organic sugar I use. LOL

Haha Carol, you might be on to something with the organic sugar! Thanks so much for the lovely comments.

2slo wrote in post #17041344
Excellent set there Steve. I'm hoping I might see some at the southern end of Canada when I visit in a couple of weeks. Do you think that's likely?

Howdy Mark, and thanks for stopping in with your ever so nice comment. I'm not an expert on Canadian hummers, but I'm pretty sure they do migrate that far North. They also leave those areas pretty early heading south too so I wish you luck finding some.

Wallace River wrote in post #17041378
Beautiful set, Steve. I particularly like the one of the male and his level of concentration on his task. Like Bret, I think some of the shots are overexposed a tad. If you use LR at all, I might lower the luminosity a wee bit on a couple of the colours. But overall, super sharp, beautiful shots. Wish they'd visit me a bit more this year! BTW, what is that blue flower? I've seen it before and think I need some.

Thanks for the comment/compliment Ian. I do shoot during some "high key" times as far as lighting goes and although nothing is truly clipped I'll mind the whites and colors. The flower is black-and-blue Salvia (Salvia guarantica) which I was told by the nursery folks is a hummer favorite. So far they're exactly right!

CMOats wrote in post #17041386
Very nice series Steve. Hummingbird shots take so much patience waiting for them & trying to anticipate where they'll go. Great job!

Haha, thanks so much Cheryl. It is a bit of a patience game with only a few hummers around, but I'll have to say I'm enjoying trying to sort out the individuals by picture.

bigjohninva wrote in post #17041402
Nice set.

Thank you John!

Grizz wrote in post #17041621
Great job Steve! Love them all.

Thanks as always Craig; glad you liked them.

DeneseRN wrote in post #17041649
Beautiful set!

Thanks so much Denese!

Excellent. Fabulous. Impressive. Fantastic. Uh, let me see, what's left? Far out and freaky! Seriously, a very well done set.