really great shots! I love seeing pic's of them feeding on flowers. Thanks for sharing

Hi Dave,

Great photos as always. I love the 2nd one!

I'm happy to say our hummers have returned in force at last, they seem to thrive on this awful heat. And I got a couple of closeup shots of them finally too. :)

With very bright sunlight I can get the shutter speed up enough to (almost) stop their wings:
{{gwi:998086}}
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And here I captured a bit of the RubyThroat's irridescence:
{{gwi:998090}}

Kenn

Excellent shots, Kenn. Really, all three of them.

Lately we have had increased HB activity too but it is very overcast here today so although I can get in close, using 800mm and a couple of extension tubes, and literally fill the frame with the hummer, uncropped, the detail of the feathers and around the eyes is lacking. It's really a waste of time to try. Think I'll go do something else until the sun comes back.

Dave

I want your camera!!!! excellent just excellent...I think you should get these published....(what kind of camera are you using btw? and how far away are you from them.

Thanks Dave, (it means a lot to me coming from you. :)

I could tell your shots were with a very long lens but is that 800mm something new? Incredible reach you have there! I'm looking forward to seeing more with that when you get your sunlight back.

rjinga, You want Dave's camera I'm sure, not mine. ;)
But if I can have Dave's, I'll GIVE you mine! (...joking of course). I was 3-4 feet away using about 250mm of my S3-IS in very bright sunlight.

Kenn

Kenn

I meant the shots I was shooting this morning that I was disappointed with were at 800mm. I was using a 400mm lens with a 2x teleconverter. I finally switched to a 1.4x teleconverter, giving me 560mm for these shots. Still not enough light so I boosted the ISO to 2500. A little bit better but not the best shots I have seen. Some of them are a bit unusual though.

Finally, the sun started to break through, and I took off the teleconverter. These were shot at 400mm, ISO 640.

And just for comparison, I switched to the 300mm lens, again with the 1.4x TC, giving me 420mm. I wanted to finish off with the 300mm without the TC but it started to get dark.

Dave

Dave,

Your 560mm shots are very nice and you got some unusual poses with his tongue out and beak agape... and I notice you're still getting good shutter speeds even without optimal light....(the S3 can only dream of such low-noise images above ISO 200 at any zoom or in any light). And of course it's reach is limited to @430mm where some aberrations annoy. I talked myself out of the 1.5TC because I think I'm kidding myself that I'd ever have enough light to make that work.

The 400mm shots are noticeably cleaner at the lower ISO (and probably better light). And the 300mm lens w/1.4TC looks excellent... perhaps better than the 400 although the light and/or distance may have been better in those shots. I'm always so impressed with how tightly the MkIII focuses... the DOF in that last shot is almost exactly the depth of the bird. :)

So enuf camera envy already huh...

As usual, you fill your lens with such lovely birds.

great shooting,

Kenn

Wow! Those pictures really encourage me to try to take more (and closer-zoomed) ones myself. So far, I haven't been able to get any of the RT males. They seem really determined to stay exactly opposite on the feeder from my camera. The females don't seem to mind so much.

Maybe I'll set an unused camera 90 degrees from me. ;)

Hi Yardenman

I am fortunate since I have a dead branch where the male likes to sit to guard the feeder and it presents an unobstructed view for me. These days, as he is starting to moult, I see a lot of twisting and preening, which makes for some interesting shots. Here are a couple where he is scratching up under the gorget feathers.

Dave

Wow, those scratching shots are so highly detailed. Nice, nice. I wish you and your camera were here to take photos of the gangs of Hummers at our feeders.

Compared to last summer, we've had much higher numbers all this summer - it's been wonderful. Since early July, about a dozen Hummers get active every evening at the four clustered feeders on and under our deck, from 7-8 p.m.
There are plenty more jousting over the 4 other feeders spread farther out, but there are about 12 or more of them that seem to like to compete over these feeders that are clustered together. We can hear them thwacking each other. Usually they all manage to get a seat at the table sooner or later, but last night we watched one male successfully defend one of the clustered feeders for a while.
Evening is the most entertaining time around here.

Donna, VA

Hi Donna

We are seeing a similar show here at Fredericksburg. But we have only six or eight, at most.

Our adult male is deep into moulting and can be easily recognized. He was dethroned by the young males a week or more ago but then along came this migrant adult male who doesn't give in so easily and they are having to do it all over again. He is currently king of the roost and defends against all comers.

Here is a rather lenghty series from this afternoon, that shows him bristling when one of the youngsters comes into his area. He never attacked, though since the other hummer retreated.

Dave

And, Oh yes. Here he is in all his radiant beauty.

Dave

I can't let this go by the way Dave,

You've got so many OUTSTANDING hummer shots here! The bristling shots of your new king male are so unique... especially the ones where his head is upside down. Fabulous.

And the first "radiant beauty" pic is... well, just so very beautiful.

You are the man with the birdcam.

Kenn